Sidestory 4: Mysterious Emperor; Departure
Brightness blossomed from the horizon. The night rain has stopped to usher in a fresh morning.
Ye Yunzhou woke up from a restless night. After washing his face, it was time to go out and find something to eat.
“Yunzhou, Yunzhou!” A loud voice interrupted him. It carried a youthful hint still.
A young man rushed in from the outside. Even though they seemed to be close in age, this youth was much more muscular and taller than Yuzhun. He looked very strong already.
“Little Qi.” Yunzhou smiled with great excitement after seeing this youth.
Wu Qi was a childhood friend. The two grew up together so their friendship was great. Despite not being blood-related, they were even closer than real brothers.
“Yo, I brought you some food.” Wu Qi quickly took out some steaming buns from his robe and handed them over to Yunzhou.
Yuzhun felt warm inside after accepting the hot buns. Wu Qi has always brought him food. Well, not just him, many seniors in the village have always been nice to him.
The two of them stood by the door and ate the hot buns one by one but Wu Qi seemed a bit distracted.
“What's wrong?” Yunzhou was a discerning person and he knew that something was up after seeing Wu Qi's demeanor.
Wu Qi took another bite and replied with an unwilling expression: “I want to leave with my master to a very faraway place. I, I don't know when we will return.”
For Wu Qi, it was not only being away from his playmate but also from the village he grew up in as well as his parents.
Yunzhou looked up and saw a daoist standing in the distant. He had a transcending style with sleeves fluttering in the wind just like an immortal.
He has seen this daoist called the Unwavering Ancient Saint. He was an immortal who came from a distant land. It was told that his sect was incredible.
Yunzhou didn't want Wu Qi to leave either but he still smiled while sincerely feeling happy for his friend. He said: “Come back often after you finish cultivating. This is a rare chance so you have to do your best to become an amazing immortal. When you ride the clouds back here, you have to bring me to the sky to see other immortals as well.”
“Yes, yes. I will.” Yunzhou's words dispersed some of Wu Qi's unwillingness. He scratched his head and said: “Well, really, it would be so nice if you can come train with me so that we can both become immortals together. But, but, my master said your talents aren't enough but I feel that you are much smarter than me. Like you read so fast while I have to spend half of a day to finish.”
Wu Qi's family was one of the best in the village so his parents were able send him to school. Ye Yunzhou on the other hand was too poor to do so and could only secretly watch outside of the window. The teacher didn't chase him away either so he still learned a lot of things.
“Well, cultivation doesn't rely on reading. You are taller than me and stronger too, so you will definitely be amazing after some cultivation.” Yunzhou smiled: “You must come back and make the village proud, I'll be waiting.”
In fact, after meeting the Unwavering Ancient Saint, Wu Qi begged his master to take Yunzhou as a disciple as well. Alas, Unwavering found Yunzhou's talents to be lacking and refused his disciple's beseech.
Wu Qi wanted to talk more but he was too young to know how to express himself and alleviate the bitter feeling in his heart. They grew up together and aspired to become immortals that could soar in the sky. This was a pact between them.
But now, he was being taken away by his master to a distant place while Yunzhou had to stay back in the village.
“Wait a bit.” Wu Qi told Yunzhou and ran towards Unwavering.
The two of them talked and Yunzhou was too far away to hear them.
After a while, Wu Qi came back and handed an emblem to Yunzhou and said: “My master said that there is an Immortal Gate not far from us, Southern Creek School. They are actually recruiting right now so you can go take a look. Take my master's token and they will definitely take you in as a disciple.”
Yunzhou accepted it and took a look. This was a badge with the word “Unwavering” carved on it. He felt warm and emotional afterward and didn't know what to say.
“I will definitely go. Just wait, after we become cultivators, we will fly across the nine continents and four oceans together!” Yunzhou felt his nose burning up as he was holding his tears in.
“Yes, we will definitely journey through the lands together!” Wu Qi said with great excitement.
The two were so young yet their aspiration was already so magnificent!