It was a tough journey. Most of the time the two were in the cramped wagon, occasionally stepping outside for food and rest but that required them hiding their identities. Aciel was not used to the cramped and uncomfortable arrangements but had no choice but to adapt. Eden tried to help by offering her padding to him but Aciel didn’t want to attract more attention than they already did with the cloaks.

“Why are we meeting Master Sun?” Aciel finally asked. He looked notably worse than when he spent his nights crying himself to sleep.

“He’s our best choice. Before he was your mother’s advisor, he was, and hopefully still is, a genius tactician.”

“But he left after Mother died. He chose to not help Father, what are the chances we can convince him to help us?”

“Hopefully favourable once he hears your story.”

In all honesty Eden had no idea what to do. Before she made her decision, she eliminated at least ten other options and yet even then she questioned her every move. If she messed up, they were dead.

“Do you want to go for a walk next time we stop for a meal?”

As terrible as Aciel felt from his unusual sleeping arrangements, he still tried his best to keep Eden calm. He knew the weight she had on her shoulders and her tendency to over criticise herself. As useless as he was, he could at least do this much.

“Sure.”

Their next stop however was their arrival stop. Just bit into Au Inden’s territory in the outskirts of a forest. The merchant informed them that Sun was rumoured to be at the shrine residing inside the forest.

“This was not what I meant when I offered going on the walk.” Aciel huffed out as he lagged behind Eden who just laughed at his remark.

Soon the trees began to clear as large rocks could be seen. The gates to the shrine could be seen in the distance, its wooden colour blending into the surroundings. Stone lanterns and statues that would be covered in moss given the moist climate where tended after. Finally a proper path was seen. As per tradition, they cleansed their hands and mouths before entering.

“Hood on Aciel. Excuse me,” Eden called out to a priest and a few shrine maidens. “We are looking for a person named Sun.”

“Welcome to Sanzang Shrine. My apologies, there is no one named Sun here,” Priest Ruyi replied.

“Are you sure? We were told we could find him here.”

The priest turned to the maidens but they all shook their heads at the sound of his name. “My apologies travellers, we do not know a person named Sun. Ah, Tzu-Wu.”

The man with blonde hair passing by stopped at the sound of his name and headed towards the priest.

“Are you heading into the town?”

“Yes priest.”

“Could you take these travellers with you?” He then turned to Eden and Aciel. “You might have better luck finding your person in the town with this temple.”

“Please, follow me.”

“Was Khoa’s information wrong?” Aciel asked Eden during the descent. “Was that why it was free?”

“Maybe.” Eden pursed her lips. “Let’s check the town anyway.”

“Are you looking for someone?” Tzu-Wu asked.

Aciel hesitated and looked at Eden who answered, “A man named Sun. Do you know him?”

“Hmm,” Tzu-Wu pondered. “I cannot help you with that.”

“What are you doing in town?” Aciel asked.

“Just some chores, purchasing ingredients for dinner along with medical supplies. Here we are.”

“Should we find lodging first?” Aciel asked, desperate for a proper bed after a week of travelling.

“Do you have any recommendations?” Eden asked Tzu-Wu.

“The one run by Miss Rine is very nice.” He pointed in the direction of the inn. It looked like every other building in the area with the expectation of a bright blue door.

“I’ll check it out. Would you mind showing my companion around the market so he could purchase some ingredients?” Tzu-Wu nodded at Eden’s request and she left Aciel with the shrine worker.

“Do you have any recommendations on what to buy?” Aciel asked as they walked towards the market.

“You shrine people are back again?” Aciel and Tzu-Wu turned to face an angry group led by a middle aged woman. Tzu-Wu stepped in front and Aciel instinctively hid behind the older man. “You’re worse than the Basileians that are residing on our land.”

“What’s going on?” The citizens in the market hid behind their stalls with only their eyes peeking out to watch the scene.

“Bandits. The priests chased them away but I see that they came back.” Tzu-Wu’s jaw clenched. “You should leave.”

“No one is leaving.” The five bandits surrounded the two men.

“What-” Aciel was grabbed by one of the men and had his mouth clamped shut.

“We have a score to settle with you.”

“That man under the cloak is a traveller. He is not with us at the shrine. Please let him go.”

“Linh, Feng, get him.” The boss bandit sent a woman and man against Tzu-Wu.

The two bandits pulled out a sword and attacked at the same time from opposite sides. Tzu-Wu went for Feng, the male bandit, first as he was closer. With the simplest of movements, Tzu-Wu disarmed Feng’s outstretched arm, taking the sword into his own hands.

Spinning around, Tzu-Wu turned to take care of Linh. Upon taking Feng’s sword into his own hands, Tzu-Wu’s movements became more fluid and his disarming of Linh was much more intricate but faster than the first disarmament.

Aciel watched as Tzu-Wu seemingly danced with the two swords in his hands. Even for a novice like him, he could tell how beautiful yet deadly Tzu-Wu’s movements were. It was a combination of fighting with dual broadswords and martial arts and he easily overtook his opponents.

As two on one was not working, the bandits moved onto four against one, leaving the boss guarding Aciel alone. Tzu-Wu threw his right sword up and used his left one to lunge against the closet opponent and whack her with the flat side. He twisted around the bandit and under where the flying right sword was, caching it before it fell.

Linh and Feng, who had their swords stolen by Tzu-Wu, ran in with the third and final bandit. Tzu-Wu was light on his feet and avoided the two swordless bandits, tossing them into the third one. Tzu-Wu threw the last two swords away and out of reach.

With all her bandits down, the boss clung onto Aciel harder and threatened Tzu-Wu, “Put the swords downs.”

“Be careful.” Tzu-Wu shouted, looking past the boss. She turned around to see Eden strike her face with a fist.

“Just as I thought,” Eden said upon returning to Aciel’s side. “You can’t hide your heritage can you Sun?”

Aciel went wide eyed at the revelation and turned to look up at Tzu-Wu. “You’re Sun?”

“He’s the only surviving person who is trained by the Irie Family. For someone who chose to give up the sword, you still have the skills.”

“Well, I guess you found what you were looking for.” He changed his messy hairstyle to a neater one and with a bow he said, “Greetings Prince Aciel.”