The ice-type mid-stage Soul King who had attacked him and Zheng Kai had been found?!
Neither of the two had expected such a piece of information. The house of Zheng had been searching and investigating the entire time but had yet to find any solid trail or information.
“Is it true, First Prince?” Zheng Kai’s face was solemn, “Where is that man now?”
“Indeed it is,” Wu Ren nodded, “We of the Tianhun School investigated the matter. He is currently south of this place in Baishan City.”
Baishan City was a very far away city to the Capital, making it surprising that the Soul King had made it there….how amazing the Tianhun School was if they could find even that man where the Zheng could not.
Eyes s.h.i.+ning, Bai Yunfei spoke up to the prince, “If the First Prince has said the man has been found, has he been captured as well? Does he have any other companions or clues to his affiliation?”
What Bai Yunfei was thinking was that if the Tianhun School had already located him, the Soul King wasn’t able to run away. If he was in Baishan City, then that might’ve been a base of sorts. And if he was from the Soul Refining School, then several more things could be inferred from there….
Knowing what Bai Yunfei was getting to, Wu Ren shook his head, “I know what you’re thinking, brother Bai, but unfortunately, we haven’t had any other clues to follow.”
“What? Did he manage to escape?”
“Of course not.”
“Then…”
“He’s dead.”
“Dead?! But how?!”
“He really is,” Wu Ren nodded his head, “With the Tianhun School surrounding him, the Soul King chose to blow himself up along with….two of our Soul Kings.”
“……”
Neither Bai Yunfei nor Zheng Kai knew how to respond to that. A Soul King blowing themselves up!! The fact that such a person was willing to go through such lengths to ensure that they wouldn’t be caught was simply terrifying to think about.
The people of the Soul Refining School as it appeared, was not only merciless to other people, but to themselves.
But at the very least, now that the person who had so grievously injured himself was dead, Bai Yunfei was relieved that there wouldn’t be a second attempt from the man on his life or Zheng Kai. And that in itself was some semblance of good news….
Bai Yunfei cupped his hands towards Wu Ren again in thanks, “Thank you for the information, Your Highness.”
“Haha, no need, no need. This has always been the responsibility of the Tianhun School. I merely wanted to do a small favor.” Wu Ren shook his hand, “In any case, it was because of the negligence of our Capital’s guards that you were hurt, brother Bai. We’ve increased the patrols in the Capital in hopes that a repeat situation will not occur.”
Seeing the pensive look on their faces, Wu Ren chuckled, gesturing at the delicacies on the table, “Don’t feel troubled by this, come, eat up and talk.”
……
The three continued to talk to one another over the meals. Throughout the course, Bai Yunfei felt himself learning more about the first prince with their meal. From start to beginning, Wu Ren had been very easy to talk to. He had the grace of a prince while also remaining amiable. He wasn’t very intimidating to talk to, and his treatment of his peers had been very genuine.
The second prince, Wu Zhuo, in comparison was also equally friendly, but the second prince lacked the ‘straightforward’ nature Wu Ren had. With Wu Zhuo, it was possible to know and speak with him, but with Wu Ren, the man was someone one could be good friends with.
That was only their first impression, however. Their true personalities had yet to be seen, so a final conclusion could not be made.
After the third round of drink and fifth order to food, Wu Ren suddenly asked Bai Yunfei, “Yunfei, do you have a place to live in the Capital yet?”
“Eh?” Bai Yunfei replied, “I’ve been living with the Zheng since my arrival.”
“Yes, that I know.” Wu Ren nodded, “But as an instructor of Tianhun Academy, surely you should find a place where you can live in the long term? Do you plan to live with the Zheng forever?”
“I….” Bai Yunfei didn’t know how to respond. He hadn’t thought about this problem before, but living for even several months to a year there wouldn’t be a wise thing to do.
Zheng Kai slapped Bai Yunfei on the shoulder, “Is that something wrong? Yunfei, it’s no problem if you stay with my family. Stay however long you like, we’re brothers aren’t we?”
Wu Ren smiled, “While that may be, I….feel that it’s best if Yunfei gets a place to call his own. It’ll be more convenient and freeing for him.”
“First Prince, do you possibly mean that…” Zheng Kai started to speak.
“I’ve already prepared a place of residence near the academy on North Seventh Street, if Yunfei would like it.” Wu Ren spoke. “Though the academy has room and board for their instructors, I feel that this residence will suit you just fine. It’s not big, but it’s special and close to the academy. Even if you don’t return to it every day, it’s still a fine place to rest in every once in a while. You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.”
The generosity of the prince was surprising to Bai Yunfei, “I….thank you for your generosity, First Prince. But I cannot accept a reward I didn’t deserve. I….”
Wu Ren cut him off, “Don’t refuse it, Yunfei. It’s merely a room to live in and not some sort of precious treasure. What kind of ‘reward’ would this be? You are an instructor of Tianhun Academy, you are teaching the next generation of geniuses of the empire. This is a great deal of accomplishment. I’ve the address of your place here, everything will be prepared for you when you decide to live in it.”
He slid a slip of paper over to Bai Yunfei. “As I said before, the room isn’t too large, but it’s still large enough to need people to clean it. There aren’t any maids now, but if you want to hire any, I can arrange that for you.”
Bai Yunfei had been thinking that Wu Ren was trying to spy on him, but if no maids were hired yet, that meant Wu Ren wanted to avoid such a thought by being considerate.
Bai Yunfei hesitated for a moment, but he took the paper anyways. “I will accept it then. Thank you for your generosity. I have no need for servants, I enjoy being left to my own devices.”
Now that he thought about it, living in Zheng manor continuously wasn’t a good thing. It was also inconvenient for him, since nothing he could do there would be a secret, it’d be better if he could limit the amount of people around him.
So if the first prince was willing to give him a place, Bai Yunfei would accept it.
……
The meal finished a while after with everyone leaving the restaurant with a smile on their faces.
As the time came for them to say goodbye, Wu Ren suddenly spoke to Bai Yunfei, “Yunfei, my fourth brother….is an impulsive one, but he isn’t bad. I know there’s some friction between you and him, but I hope that you’ll see past that.”
Bai Yunfei hadn’t expected Wu Ren to suddenly bring up Wu Yang. “You’re far too serious with your words, First Prince. There’s no such conflict between the Fourth Prince and I.”
“That’s good then. I hope that you’ll...look after my fourth brother well in the future.”
“……”
His words puzzled Bai Yunfei. What did he mean by that?
“Let’s get going then, Yunfei!”
Zheng Kai spoke up to him.
Bai Yunfei turned his head to Zheng Kai who looked expectantly at him, “Where to?”
Zheng Kai smiled. “We rarely get the chance to go out, let’s go somewhere fun before heading back. Come on, I’ll take you somewhere interesting.”
Bai Yunfei grew suspicious--what kind of interesting place? Where he was going to take him now?