Blossoms of Love

Chapter 4: Faith

Over a week had passed since they fought the Huodou during their visit to the village of Ningyi, and it was safe to say that the prince had been avoiding Master Yin. He was not entirely sure why he was avoiding him. Perhaps he just wanted some time alone after being forced to put his own life in danger for his captors. Although he was not angry about that, in fact, he had rather enjoyed the outing.

It was nice to have been able to see more of Qingyi, a kingdom he had not visited many times before. He had also gotten to put his cultivation into use, protecting innocents from the terrors of the world as he had vowed he would. Should it be of use in the future, he had even had a chance to see Master Yin in action. He had gained a sense of how the master liked to fight, although he had identified few weaknesses in his form.

When he searched his brain for a reason as to why he was avoiding Master Yin, all he could come up with was that he was afraid to see him. Afraid, however, did not seem the right word. He had learnt more about him on their short journey than he had at all in his entire time at the estate. He was kind and looked out for his people. He had even shown some concern for the young prince when he had suffered an injury, a concern that seemed to have even overpowered his worries about his own wound. It was unusual to see a captor worried about their prisoner.

"How is it?" Master Yin asked the physician, checking in on the prince during his treatment.

Song Mengyao avoided his eyes and instead focused on the hands which were removing the bandages around his arm for the last time.

"Almost fully healed, my Lord." The physician smiled as he revealed the smallest of marks left on the prince's skin. What had once been a blistering scald had healed at a steady pace until there was nothing left but a small patch of darkened skin.

"Very good. You may leave us."

With a bow, the physician left the two men alone. It was the first time they had been alone since their return from Ningyi. Master Yin had sensed that the prince was purposely avoiding him, but he had also thought it best to allow him some time to recover from his wounds before asking anything more of him.

Now that the two of them were nearing a full recovery, however, it was the perfect time for him to ask, "Would you care for a game of Go?"

The prince, who had been examining what remained of his wound, glanced up at the young master. Their eyes met and for the first time, he saw something gentle within the dark brown that looked into his eyes of amber.

Usually, those eyes were full of some mysterious intent, watching his every move like a predator. It had been mildly intimidating at first and still made Song Mengyao uncomfortable, but he had somewhat grown used to it. At that moment, however, there was nothing of the sort present. They were simply the eyes of a man who wished to enjoy a casual game of Go.

***

"I am relieved that your wound has healed well. I was worried about that nasty infection, I thought you might even lose your arm," Yin Jianguo chuckled as he lightly lifted his stone and placed it onto the board between them.

Song Mengyao silently thought of his next move, rolling the stone back and forth between two fingers before placing it on the board. "I see your wound is healing quite well too."

Master Yin looked at the bandage that remained around his arm, slightly damp with the ointment that had been rubbed into it only hours before. It was healing, although considerably slower than he would have hoped. Even the teeth of the Huodou, it seemed, were capable of inflicting a severe amount of damage.

He dreaded to think of what would have happened had he not caught the blow with his arm. The beast had dived for the prince's face and, Yin Jianguo thought, it surely would have torn his head clean off had it the chance to do so. Or perhaps it would have dug through his flesh only hard enough to leave a permanent scar through the otherwise perfect features of the prince's face. Either way it would have been a pity. The master was certainly more than happy for his arm to have taken the blow in place of such a beautiful face.