Blossoms of Love

Chapter 15: Shiyanyi

"You killed it?"

Song Mengyao softly nodded his head, watching as the old man tipped an odd concoction down Master Yin's throat. "We did, but we lost a lot of good men."

Old Man Yaozu hummed as though he were pondering the weight of their losses. "Good men will always be lost when fighting a war."

"A war? This was one beast." The prince furrowed his brows, wondering what the old man had meant.

Old Man Yaozu turned from the young master, who was still yet to wake, and locked his eyes with the prince for a moment. "Perhaps, but do not be fooled. A war is coming; the Xiangliu's awakening is only the beginning."

Before another question could be asked, a pained groan interrupted their conversation.

"Master Yin!"

Song Mengyao was back on his feet in less than a second as he moved to Master Yin's side while the latter slowly sat up. The poison had been dealt with, but the rest of his wounds had been somewhat severe. If it weren't for his Qi, his body would have already given out. Thankfully, with the new strength in his inner force and that oddly tasting medicine, he would recover in a few days.

"Careful there, your leg still needs time to properly heal."

With consideration for the old man's words, Master Yin was careful as he pushed himself up onto his feet.

"You should rest," the prince protested. Although, he knew his friend would not listen.

He simply placed a firm hand on Song Mengyao's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "I am fine."

When the door to the shack opened, and in came a limping man, their conversation once again came to an end.

Song Guang smiled at his brother and used his walking stick to support his weight as he bowed his head. "Master Yin, it is good to see you awake. I must thank you for completing the job I could not."

In the few days since they fought the Xiangliu, Song Guang had regained consciousness. His wounds were healing well thanks to Old Man Yaozu, who was adamant about keeping his secrets. He knew far too much about everything from the Xiangliu to the way he treated wounds but the least they could do was leave him to his mysteries after all he had done for them.

"Thank your brother. If he were not there I would have died along with what was left of my men."

Hearing the words of praise from Master Yin should have been nothing new nor anything special and yet, it sent a blush up to the very tips of Song Mengyao's ears.

Hoping to avoid the feeling of, well, something the prince was anything but accustomed to, he stepped toward his brother. "We killed it, that is what matters. We should simply be glad that it can cause no more harm."

"About that," Song Guang raised his finger to the frame of his spectacles, pushing them up the length of his nose, "It seems the body of the Xiangliu is still poisoning the water. I am afraid that even in death it will be a problem."

"Let me deal with that. Give me a few days and the water will be as good as new," Old Man Yaozu chimed, drawing all attention to him once again.

"How is it that you know so much about, well, everything?" Master Yin questioned the old man, forgoing courtesy entirely with his blunt confrontation.

Rather than panicking, as he had done before, the old man simply smiled. "When you are as old as I am, you learn some things."

"And just how old is that?" Song Mengyao was the next to question him, pushing for answers, although it seemed that they would not obtain the answer they desired any time soon.