A Phoenix Rising - An Untamed Story (Book 1 In Series)

Chapter 10

Jin Ling was bored. What was the point of being fourteen already if everyone was still going to treat him as if he was thirteen! Actually, he had had more freedom a year ago! Uncle Jiang put a guard detail on him as soon as they returned to Koi Tower after the events in YunPing. And these guards were actually good at their job....

Day eight of the Conference was 'take a walk through the gardens' day. As much as he appreciated not having to escort some silly girl around, there was nothing to do! And no friends to be with as they were all walking around with someone's future bride. He had tried to make his own fun by going into Lanling and trying to escape the watchful eyes of his guard. So far he had been unsuccessful....

He passed by a tea house. Maybe he could give them the slip here.... As he whirled around to go inside, he tripped over a street beggar. Dirty, nasty creature! She let out a small cry of pain, and crumpled up into a ball.

"Please don't kick me," she begged.

Kick her? She had probably managed to get more dirt on his boots than he had gathered in the previous hour of walking! He wanted to say something along the lines of 'stay out of the way of your betters'. A year ago, when he was a boy of just turned thirteen he would have. A year ago he hadn't met ZhuiGe.... If word of him talking to anyone like that got back to him, he would be disappointed in him. It was odd how the smile falling from ZhuiGe's face made him more uncomfortable than being beaten ever had.... So instead of yelling, he knelt down and asked if she was hurt. That was what ZhuiGe would do.

The human ball uncurled itself to show the face and body of a woman who was far too thin.... Her eyes were huge and ringed with purple shadows. "No, young Master," she whispered. "I'm fine."

She used the same exact tone and inflection Uncle Wei did when he was pretending all was well. There was a dark purple bruise on one cheek and a yellow-ish-green one on her forehead. And from the way she was cradling one arm, someone had probably hurt her there, too. She wasn't fine. He channeled his inner SiZhui: "Let me buy you some tea and some food as my apology for stepping on you." She tried to protest, but he spoke over her. "It is my fault you were hurt. I didn't look where I was going."

"Young master, if you really need to apologize, just... please tell me... Is it true that Wei WuXian is alive?" Jin Ling scowled. She saw the face and hurriedly added, "I know him.... Or I used to know him.... We were friends. I studied with him and his brother and sister at Cloud Recesses many years ago. Even after he was named the Yiling Patriarch, I never believed he was evil...."

"You studied at Cloud Recesses," he repeated flatly. No way did this beggar know his mother!

"Yes. Wei WuXian and Nie HauiSang played pranks during class. Lan WangJi and Jiang Cheng glared at them. That is, when Jiang Cheng wasn't joining in on the pracks.... Jin ZiXuan and Wei WuXian kept trying to get into fights.... And poor Lan QiRen was trying to maintain discipline.... As if forcing Wei WuXian to copy the Lan rules was going to entice him into obeying them.... I think it must have been the most disruptive year the Lans ever had."

Everything she said was pretty much common knowledge and not proof that she had known any of them. But then she added, "There was one time when Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian went missing for a few days. No one could find them. Then suddenly there they were! They fell off a mountain! I had been walking with Jiang Cheng, and suddenly we were looking at Wei WuXian lying on top of Lan WangJi, their wrists tied together with a Lan headband. It was obvious Wei WuXian had no idea what that meant.... Poor Lan WangJi was mortified...."

Jin Ling was quite certain most people outside of Gusu did not know the significance of allowing another person to touch a Lan headband.... He was also certain that this story was not something that was casually talked about.... He also knew that it had really happened. Which meant this filthy creature really did know Uncle Wei? He turned to one of his guards, "Go find Wei Wuxian and HanGuang-Jun. They should still be at Koi Tower. And bring back something more suitable for this lady Cultivator to wear."