MOONLIGHT NINJA

MOONLIGHT NINJA CHAPTER 5

Chapter Five

As the man walked swiftly on top of the long and wide red-tiled hall, the ferocious-looking dragon's head entablatures seemed to smile at him. Even the ornamental javelins, displayed on the walls at both far sides of the tall columns and punctuated by huge open windows, twinkled like stars known only during the cloudless night sky.

Truly, the place might had been enchanted... or was it he who was still under some kind of enchantment?

He couldn't forget about her - she was very beautiful like the wildflowers gracing the high mountains.

Her beautiful face unmarred even by an angry scowl. Her cheeks rosy probably from the eager kisses of the sunlight; her eyebrows were like trimmed feathers though he suspected them to be uncut; her pretty little nose which complimented her face perfectly; her expressive beautiful almond-shaped eyes shone like black diamonds. Unfortunately, during the time that they had met, they were shining only because of anger.

If only he had seen her eyes shone not only in anger, he could have believed that his ancestors had been extremely indulgent on him; and her lips - he believed that he was not under some exaggerated imagination but he thought it had the color of the prettiest hue of pink.

Truly, the beautiful virago taught him to have a mind of a poet. Never had he been this attracted to a female though he had seen several beautiful faces such as that of the Imperial princess. But where the princess looked divinely ethereal and pale, the girl he met at the market was nature's gift and basking with life which made him thoroughly captivated.

She was indeed beautiful.

He wondered fervently when fate would cross their paths again as he took a right turn and headed to the imposing massive doors of the Imperial palace meeting chamber.

Two hall guards wore their lamellar armors with pride over their black cotton sleeves barely covering their dull brown cotton trousers; the armor had a circular plate on the front designed with two serpent dragons spiraled against each other, their heads facing apart. Both of the guards greeted him with respect due to a superior ranked official despite the swords held in their hands.

The massive doors were opened and he saw the emperor and his trusted officials as well as alliances gathered.

He kowtowed respectfully to the Emperor and said, "Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, please forgive my error in the judgment of time, an unexpected circumstance has come along my way. I shall promise to be more heedful of the time in whatever circumstance that may come my way so as not to commit the same mistake again."

"Take your rise and take your place among the seats, Jinzhou Lu Wan Wei; you are forgiven." The Emperor said.

°°°°°

Still saddled with the irritation she felt for the man she had encountered at the town a while ago, Yan Mei Ling furiously removed her travelling silk robe and donned into her combat attire when she arrived at Master Tang Jiao Quon's domicile.

She knew that she should have eradicated negative emotions before coming here, as what her Master sternly advised so that she wouldn't get distracted but, at this moment, it was almost impossible.

She almost got hit by the horse and the fear she felt from the near-death experience had turned into a festering ire. She understood that he might be in a hurry but he should at least be considerate that the street leading to the Imperial Palace wasn't paved as it was crowded by people. Oh, she remembered his armor - judging from the way it was crafted, he might probably a palace official but she was skeptical for she hadn't seen him before.