Yibo with other participants were standing outside a forest with a instructor and a few guards. The instructor was giving them the instructions of the competition.
"We will all given a token and a secret message scroll. Your work would be to send the message to Hanguang Jun and for that you have to cross this forest and go to Tianyi Sect. In this forest, you will encounter many enemies who would try to steal the message scroll and take your token. If you lost the message scroll then you will lose half of your points. And if you lost the token, then it will consider that you are dead. Then you would be evicted from the competition. The first ten participants among you will be chosen to have a talk with the Emperor. Then the Emperor will decided who will be the next Hanguang Jun." The instructor said.
"Sir, won't you give us a map of this forest?" A participant asked.
"No." The instructor denied.
"Then how will we cross the forest?" Another participant asked.
"You were giving instructions beforehand that the competition will take place here like other years competition. We were told to prepare for it. Now, if you don't know the way then find a way or quit the competition." The instructor said coldly and the two participants kept quiet.
"Give them the token and the massage scroll." The instructor said and the guards started to give the participants the token and the message scroll.
"The competition begins." The instructor said and the participants ran inside ths forest.
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In Tianyi Mountain
Tianyi Mountain was a mountain where cultivators from Tianyi Sect live. Today everyone again gather at Tianyi Mountain to watch the competition.
In Tianyi Sect, they had many magical tools. The cultivators used some magical tools to see every participants' movement through different mirrors. Everyone was watching their favorite participants on the mirrors.
"What is Number 85 doing?" Lei asked as he saw Yibo was climbing on a tree.
"Is he there to pluck fruit?" Lingyi wondered.
"Interesting!" Zhan said with a smirk.
Yibo climbed on a big tree and started to look around him. He could see a mountain and knew that it was his destination. He looked around to make sure there was no enemy. Then he used his Qing Gong and headed to the direction of the mountain.
Suddenly, some people attacked Yibo. They were total eight people and Yibo was alone. When they saw Yibo, they tried to attack Yibo but Yibo stopped them by raising his hand.
"Wait, it's unfair." Yibo whined.
"What's wrong?" One of the attackers asked.
"You are total eight people and I am alone. How can I fight you all?" Yibo asked with a pout making the attackers as well as the audience amused. Suddenly Yibo's face lit up as he noticed a small cave.
"How about you come one by one. Discuss among yourself who will come first." Yibo said and the attackers looked at each other.
Taking their distraction, Yibo went inside the cave. The attackers noticed him and chased after him.
One by one, the attackers went inside the cave as the mouth of the cave was small. But they didn't return.
Inside the cave, Yibo hid near the mouth of the cave. When the attackers entered inside the cave, he pressed their aquit point or cracked their neck. He snatched two small bows from them. Then he came out of the cave and found two more people was waiting for him. He took out his whip and fight with the two. Then he flew from there.
Yibo was heading towards a river when he encountered another group of people but now they were just four people.
"Give us the message scroll." One of the attackers said.
Yibo sighed and sat on the floor making the attackers alert as they thought Yibo was going to attack them. But Yibo just sat on the ground and stared at the attackers with pouty lips.
"I am tired. Let me rest. Then we will fight." Yibo said.
"What tricks are trying to play boy?" Another attacker asked.
"Me? Nothing." Yibo said while sneakingly gathering dust in his hand.
"Don't waste time on him. Just attack." Another attacker said and about to attack Yibo but before he could attack Yibo threw dust in their eyes.
"I don't have time to play with you." Yibo said and used his Qing Gong to flew from there.
Yibo reached the bank of river easily as there were no other attacks on the way. Because everyone would avoid this route.
There was a river in the foot of the mountain. If anyone cross the river then they can easily reached the mountain. But the problem was that the cultivators set up many tools to prevent anyone to cross the river.
"Don't tell me, Number 85 want to cross the river?" Xueyi asked.
"He is making another stupid decision." Hongyi said.
"It would be a wish decision if he can cross the river." Zhan said.
"What do you think? Can he cross the river?" Shishi asked Zhan.
"If he is taking a risk then he must be confident to cross the river." Zhan said and Shishi nodded her head.
"What does Hanguang Jun think? Will Number 85 able to cross the river?" Lan Mi asked.
"Definitely." Shishi said confidently as she knew that Yibo had great Qing Gong skill.
"It's getting more interesting." Zanjin said.
Yibo threw some leaves on the river and the leaves were cut into tiny pieces by thin strings which could hardly be seen. Then all the tools in the river activated.
Yibo carefully stepped on the thin strings using his Qing Gong skill. In two minutes he crossed the river successfully.
"Wow, he successed" Everyone said in unison while Shishi smirked proudly.
Yibo was moving forward when he heard loud screaming. He turned back and found that Lu was crossing the river but triggered the tools. Now, she couldn't move forward or backward. She was trapped.
"Number 15 is trapped." Lingyi said.
"She is done." Lin said.
Yibo stared at Lu while thinking if he should save his sister or not. If he didn't save Lu then she would be evicted from the competition. Then Yibo's biggest competitor would be out of his way. But if Yibo didn't save her, then she might get hurt.
Yibo decided to save Lu as he couldn't let his sister get hurt. He couldn't be heartless to his sister for a position. So, he ran to Lu and saved her. He made her stand on the other bank of the river as it was close to them.
"Thank you for saving me." Lu said.
"Be careful." Yibo said and Lu nodded her head.
"Wow, he saves his opponent." Zanjin said.
"It seems like, he is kind." Zhan said.
Yibo started to cross the river again but stopped in the middle. He saw a pink flower on a rock. The flower was beautiful which attracted Yibo as he loved flowers. Yibo went to the direction of the flowers making others confused.
"What is he doing?" Lin wondered.
Yibo went to the rock and plucked the flower. He smelled the flower and smiled. Then he carefully kept the flowers on his chest and started to cross the river again.
"Stupid fellow!" Shishi mumbled and facepalm.
"So cute." Cheng said and smiled.
"So innocent." Zhan said with a smile.
Then Yibo happily went up to the mountain. On the way up to the mountain, Yibo encountered another group of attackers. This time, there were more than ten people. Yibo jumped on the attackers and punched them. He even used his bows to shoot them. Then he ran away from there.
Yibo encountered another group of five people. This time, Yibo was really tired and in no mood to fight.
"I know you want the message scroll. Then take it." Yibo said and threw a scroll to the attackers.
"What? He gives the scroll to the attackers. Then what's the meaning of working so hard till now?" Lingyi wondered.
"Sometimes, what we see may not be true." Yang said and Lan Mi nodded her head in agreement.
The attackers caught the scroll and started to check it. Taking this opportunity, Yibo ran away from there.
"It's fake." One of the attackers said angrily while showing the empty scroll.
"He fools us. Let's go after him." Another attacker said and started to chase Yibo but they lost him.
Yibo came to the mountain first and went to Shishi. He greeted her and gave her the token and a message scroll.
Shishi checked the token and the message scroll to make sure that it was real. She felt proud of Yibo.
"Good job." Shishi said and couldn't help but patted Yibo's hair making Yibo smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Hanguang Jun." Yibo said and bowed to Shishi.
"Number 85!" Yang called and Yibo turned to him.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Yibo said.
"Why did you take the flower with you?" Yang asked curiously.
"Because it's beautiful." Yibo said as a matter of fact.
"Just because it's beautiful, you risk your life to take it." Yang said feeling amused and Yibo nodded his head.
"It's worth it. I can keep it as an achievement or a prove that I cross the river." Yibo said proudly and Yang chuckled.
"Take your seat and rest." Yang said and Yibo nodded his head. Then he went to the participants' seats.
"I think Emperor Father knows about Number 85's identity." Lingyi said.
"Not only Emperor Father, Empress Dowger and Hanguang Jun also know about Number 85's identity." Hongyi said.
"Could he be from Hanguang Jun, I mean Princess Shishi's son?" Zhan asked. Almost everyone knew that Shishi was Hanguang Jun. It had became a open secret in the Royal Court.
"He is not Princess Shishi's son. Princess Shishi's son, General Kuan is here. So, he is out of question." Hongyi said.
"Then he can be a member of Cloud Recesses." Lei said.
"Other than Weak Beauty and General Lu, everyone is present here. General Lu is a female so she is out of question." Hongyi said.
"Then can he be Weak Beauty?" Lingyi asked.
"No, it's not possible." Lin said hurriedly as he didn't want anyone found that Yibo was Number 85.
"And why so?" Xueyi asked while raising his head.
"Weak Beauty is currently 14 years old. He hasn't turned 15 yet. He is not qualified to participate in the competition." Lin said.
"Well, you are also right." Xueyi said.
"Then who could he be?" Hongyi wondered while frowning.
Lu returned second and Xiang returned third. One by one everyone returned. Only eight person successfully returned with both the token and the message scroll. The rest of the participants lost the message scroll.
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Yibo was sitting in front of Yang without mask as Yang was called to have a private talk to the Emperor.
"Why do you want to become Hanguang Jun?" Yang asked.
"Of course, for power." Yibo said making Yang amused.
"Just for power? Not for serving the country?" Yang asked curiously as all other participants said that they wanted to be Hanguang Jun to serve the country.
"Well, to serve the country, one need power. So, my main goal is to achieve power then serve the country like my parents." Yibo said straightforward and Yang was pleased with Yibo's honesty.
"Why do you want power in the first place?" Yang asked again.
"So that no one dare to bully me." Yibo said.
"If that so then you can choose to be an official in court. There you would gain power and respect and no one would dare to bully you. If you become Hanguang Jun, you might gain power but no one will know about it as you can't expose yourself in public." Yang said.
"Well, you are right. I can be an official in court but then I have to deal with my superior and other court official as they would always underestimate me and bully me because of my ger status. As for being Hanguang Jun, I will only be under you. I will have power. I know I can't expose myself and that's the fun. I myself know that I am powerful. They would be fool to bully me because I always hold grudge. I will take revenge in one way or another." Yibo said with a smirk.
"That's your advantage. But what will I get if I give me the power of Hanguang Jun?" Yang asked while raising his eyebrow.
"If you give me the power of Hanguang Jun then you don't have to worry about me getting exposed." Yibo said.
"And How?" Yang asked curiously.
"Because no one will ever even in their dream think that I am the Hanguang Jun. After all, I am such a weak but beautiful little ger." Yibo said and cutely blinked his eyes at Yang.
"Yeah, how will they know you are such a devil in angel's disguise." Yang said and Yibo frowned.
"I am not a devil. I am cute little angel." Yibo said cutely.
"Yeah, I can see that." Yang said while rolling his eyes and Yibo pouted.
"If you become Hanguang Jun then your life will belong to me. You have to follow my every order." Yang said seriously.
"Your are the Emperor and I am your subject. Even if I don't become Hanguang Jun, I have to follow your order." Yibo said and Yang nodded his head.
"You wouldn't have any right to marry whoever you want. You have to marry the person I arrange for you." Yang said.
"I know iy very well. Even though, I won't be Hanguang Jun, you can arrange my marriage with anyone you want with your imperial decree. So, I have no problem with you arranging my marriage as long as you don't want me to be your concubine." Yibo said and Yang's face turned red in embarrassment.
"I am your uncle, Stupid Kid. How do you even think such nonsense?" Yang asked as he flicked Yibo's forehead.
"Ouch, I forget that you are my uncle. I am just thinking you as the Emperor." Yibo said while rubbing his forehead and Yang sighed.
"Well, as you say, you are my uncle, then can you accept my one request?" Yibo asked while blinking his eyes cutely.
"What is it?" Yang asked curiously.
"You can arrange my marriage with anyone just make sure that I will be the main wife. I don't want to be a concubine." Yibo said and pouted.
"You ask me something for the first time, so I grant your wish." Yang said making Yibo smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Emperor Uncle." Yibo said as he bowed slightly and Yang nodded his head.
"You can go now." Yang said and Yibo nodded his head.
Yibo wore his mask and bowed to Yang for the last time before leaving the private room.
As soon as Yibo left the room, Lan Mi came out of a partition. Then she sat in front of Yang.
"I never expect Yibo to be this playful. I wonder whom he took after as I don't see anyone as him in both Wei and Lan family." Yang said and Lan Mi smiled.
"He took after his ancestor." Lan Mi said.
"Who are you talking about?" Yang asked curiously.
"It's Emperor Wei Wuxian. If you read his biography then you will know he was very playful, mischievous but kind. He was also very brave to chase often our cold Empress Lan Wangji." Lan Mi said and chuckled.
"Well, you are right." Yang said.
"I also notice another thing." Lan Mi said.
"What is it?" Yang asked curiously.
"Yibo looked similar to Empress Lan Wangji." Lan Mi said as she had many portraits of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. The Royal family was protecting those generation after generation.
"I think I have to check the portraits to see their similarities." Yang said.
"Sure." Lan Mi said while nodding her head.
To be continued.........
- RK Riya
2024-04-30