Fated | Fangs Of Fortune [ZhuYi]

Chapter 12 : The White Monkey

Zhu Yan glanced at the way Yichen positioned himself protectively in front of Wen Xiao. For a brief moment, his expression wavered, but then he turned to Mr. Fan with an accusatory tone.

"I'm disappointed, Mr. Fan. I came here to help and yet you're trying to kil me." Zhu Yan said, his voice carrying a mix of blame and mockery.

Yichen shot Mr. Fan a questioning look, his grip on the Cloud Light Sword still tight.

"Yichen, I'm sorry" Mr. Fan said, his tone heavy with guilt. "But Wen Xiao needs him. He knows how to restore the Baize Token."

"What do you mean, Father?" Wen Xiao asked, her voice-tinged disbelief.

"The emperor tasked the Demon Hunting Bureau with restoring the Baize Token" Mr. Fan explained, his words clipped. "And this demon claims he can help." He spat the last word with disdain, casting Zhu Yan a scornful glance.

Yichen's gaze snapped back to Zhu Yan, burning with hatred. "What are you plotting now?" he demanded.

Zhu Yan met his glare with a casual shrug, his expression feigning innocence. "Helping humans?" he replied, his tone light and teasing, which only deepened Yichen's glare.

"Mr. Fan, we need to talk" Yichen said firmly, striding toward the stairs that led to the main chamber. As he passed Zhu Yan, his gaze briefly flickered with contempt. Zhu Yan returned it with an infuriatingly playful smile.

Wen Xiao and Mr. Fan quickly followed Yichen up the stairs.

As Zhu Yan moved to follow them, stepping onto the first stone step, Yichen's voice cut through the rain-drenched silence. "Not you." He didn't even glance back as he said it.

Zhu Yan paused, blinking in mock offense. "Hey, I'm the main topic here" he said, as though the exclusion was deeply unfair.

Yichen ignored him entirely. Wen Xiao shot Zhu Yan a sharp glare and Mr. Fan gave him a pleading look, silently urging him not to provoke Yichen further.

With a dramatic sigh, Zhu Yan shrugged and turned away. Wandering along the stone path, he found a peach tree near the courtyard.

Leaping lightly onto one of its branches, Zhu Yan plucked a peach and bit into it, the playful smile never leaving his lips.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Once they were seated, Mr. Fan began explaining, his voice heavy with concern. "Yichen, I know all you've ever wanted is to kill him. And believe me, even I would want that if I could. But he is the only hope for my daughter's survival."

Yichen's gaze hardened as he turned to Mr. Fan. "Tell me everything, Mr. Fan."

Mr. Fan sighed, his expression dark. "He was the younger brother of the previous Baize Goddess, the protector of the two realms, Zhao Wan'er—Wen Xiao's master. They weren't related by blood, but the goddess treated him as her own brother and gave him a human name, her real brother's name, Zhao Yuan Zhou."

The mention of a name Yichen hadn't spoken in eight years cast a shadow over his eyes, a flicker of pain barely hidden.

"I remember him" Wen Xiao said, realization dawning as fragments of the past resurfaced. "He was always there with my master. He's the one who brought me to the Demon Hunting Bureau the day my master died."

Memories stirred in her mind, ones she had long buried. She recalled seeing her master's lifeless body near the sea. A masked figure had dropped her at the Bureau's doorstep that day, saying only, 'Live a normal life. When the time comes, I'll come to repay her.' She had watched as the figure gave the Bureau's wooden doors a lingering gaze before disappearing into the storm. Later that day, Mr. Fan had taken her in as his daughter.