Blue Phoenix

Looking at Hui Yue, Gao Yan frowned slowly. It was clear that he was searching his memory to see what he could find, but the more he searched, the more frustrated he became. Finally after thinking for what seemed like the better of ten minutes he opened his mouth, “An He?” He asked, “Are you sure the name is An He? Does he reside in the capital? I highly doubt that is the case. If he did, I would know of him.” He continued. It was clear that he had never heard the name before, and even the Rong twins frowned while looking at one another completely incapable of remembering anyone with the name An He.

Seeing that they knew nothing Hui Yue felt a slight tinge of disappointment, but it quickly vanished as he scolded himself. An He was the peak expert of this world, far above the average cultivator, it would be weird if he were well known. Thinking swiftly, Hui Yue changed the subject, “What about the Frozen General?” He asked, not using the name Zhong Fai, but his title instead.

Hearing the name Frozen General caused the Rong twins and Gao Yan to suck in a breath of air. All of them looked surprised and alert, “What do you need to know about him?” He asked tentatively clearly uncertain about what to say. “The Frozen General… He is the person commoners use to scare others,” Rong Xing said in a low voice. “If a child does not do what their parents tells them then they will say that the Frozen General will come and kidnap them; he will make them a part of his Frozen Brigade.”

Hearing this, Hui Yue could not help but chuckle. A reaction which did not fit the serious atmosphere. Even Cai Jie was surprised; only Deng Wu had a smirk on his face. The two of them, Deng Wu and Hui Yue, had met Zhong Fai in the Dungeons of the Divine and this man seemed nothing like how his three friends described him. The Frozen General was not a person who would come at night to kidnap other people’s unruly children. The impression Hui Yue had of the Frozen General was of a frighteningly strong cultivator who was far above the common citizen.

“I will need a few days to gather all the information I have about the Crusaders, and I will need time to find out what people say about the Frozen General. Give me a few days to do my work and we will see what I can dig up,” Gao Yan promised. After being quiet for a short while, the older man added, “Although I’ve never heard the name An He, I will ask around and see if I can get some information.”

“Thank you for your help,” Hui Yue said happily as he looked at Gao Yan. His heart swelled once more, and he felt great gratitude to his friends for all the assistance they gave him. Staying in the city was definitely the best idea to see whether or not he could gain some information about An He, but their chances were small if the information came from commoners and nobles. However, he expected that the royal family knew about An He and perhaps they had mentioned him in front of their servants from time to time. Hui Yue was hopeful that they should be able to find at least a little bit of information about him.

“I won’t take any more of your time,” Hui Yue said smilingly as he and Cai Jie moved up the stairs towards the rooms that they had been lent. Both of them were aware that they could do nothing to rush Gao Yan. They had to await his return, and while doing so, they decided to train. Training was the only thing which could preoccupy them, letting them focus on something other than waiting for the news to arrive.

….

“This is weird,” Gao Yan mumbled for the seventh time within the last hour. His table was filled with papers, his face with a deep frown. “Cheung Chan Tin,” He called out, and his friend arrived. Looking at this man, one would recognize him as being Gao Yan’s right-hand man back when they lived at the Riluo City Royal Academy. Currently, he was holding a heap of memory stones in his grasp that he placed on Gao Yan’s desk. Sighing heavily, he shook his head.

“There is nothing about any An He,” He said, “No one is named An He, not amongst the nobles or even amongst the commoners. It is as though the name has been completely erased from the world. To think that the name does not exist is simply too odd. It is so odd that I feel like there is a reason behind it.”

“It is hard to get information about him since what we buy is gossip. We only have a few dedicated members who actively search for specific information. I guess we should try using one of them and see what happens in the royal family. Focus on the families who have Crusaders living in their homes. I think crusaders and An He have some sort of relation if I read Hui Yue’s reactions well enough.” He continued, and the many stones that had been dropped off by Cheung Chan Tin were now put to the side. One scroll of paper after another was tossed into the pile; one memory stone after another was also added, and all these stones proved to be devoid of any information about An He

The more silvery-blue lights that flashed, the deeper the frown on Gao Yan’s forehead became. Eventually, he stood up and went towards another desk where he talked with a friend who was seated with many memory stones in front of him. “Send the Tang twins into the royal castle and see if they can get any information about a man named An He. I cannot stress enough that this is not our usual gossip. They need to use the utmost caution.” Gao Yan said to the man at the desk, and the man nodded his head, a serious expression on his face.

Seeing that he was serious, Gao Yan headed to their massive bookshelves that stored quite a few memory stones. He picked up a whole pile which he took to his desk. Moving the old memory stones, he placed the new ones on the desk and sat down sighing. Moving one memory stone after another to his forehead, he placed them in two piles. One contained information about the Frozen General and the Crusaders while the other was devoid of information about the two subjects. Looking at the many memory stones, he could not help but sigh as he knew how much work he had to do. Looking at the memory stones he had pushed away, he frowned once more, “Who is this An He?” He mumbled to himself his entire expression filled with confusion.

….

It took three days for Gao Yan to go through all the memory stones he had at his disposal. What he finished with was three memory stones of the highest quality. Within two of these stones was information about the Crusaders: where they lived, how many there were, and where they came from. All the information Hui Yue had asked for. The other stone contained information about the Frozen General, and Gao Yan was greatly excited about how much he had managed to accomplish in such a short time.

As soon as he had finished the last memory stone, he quickly placed the three stones in his robes and rushed out of the Black Lion on his way back to the Rong twins’ mansion. Gao Yan was a very common guest, and he could bypass the guards easily. He almost skipped he was so excited. He hurried into the mansion up the stairs and towards Hui Yue’s room. Inside he was excited because he had managed to find all the information as swiftly as he had. Knocking on Hui Yue’s door, he saw that Cai Jie opened his own, and was looking expectantly at Gao Yan, “Would you mind if I join you? I am very curious about the Crusaders,” He asked. This was the first time Cai Jie had ever taken the initiative to speak with any of Hui Yue’s friends.

Hearing the polite question, Gao Yan could not help but smirk slightly. Nodding his head, he turned to look at the door which was opening. Hui Yue was standing right inside, and his clothes were the same as they had been a few days prior. It was obvious to anyone that he had been constantly cultivating these last three days. Leaving the door open, Hui Yue went into the room and cracked his neck, “Please excuse me for a few moments.” Hui Yue said as he headed towards the bathroom, “I need to freshen up for a moment and then I’ll return. You can hand the Crusader’s information to Cai Jie. I am sure that is why he is here anyways.” He smiled, and the smile was repaid by Cai Jie, who reached out a hand only to be given the two memory stones.

Without waiting, Cai Jie sat down on a small chair in the room and instantly placed one of the memory stones to his forehead. The silvery-blue light shone through the room. Cai Jie mumbled a few indistinct words, and as the light vanished, Cai Jie’s hand slowly fell. He placed the one memory stone he had just used on the table and picked up the next one.

Searching through another memory stone he once again mumbled a few words which were impossible to hear, and just like before he removed the stone and placed it on the table. This time, though he did not open his eyes instantly; instead, he kept mumbling unrecognizable words and Gao Yan was feeling a bit awkward as he waited for Hui Yue to finish his bath.

Hui Yue was fairly swift, and after ten minutes a fresh looking young man stepped through the door from the bathroom. Seeing Cai Jie with closed eyes, he snickered slightly before he turned his attention to Gao Yan, “Sorry for asking you about finding all these things for me.” He said full of gratitude as he looked at the older man, “I would really not know where to find this information if not for you.”

Hearing this, Gao Yan could not help but grin. He had been working very hard to reach the deadline he gave himself, and he could not help but feel satisfied that Hui Yue recognized how hard he had worked for it. Still he felt that he did not have enough information because he did not know anything about An He, a name which seemed not to exist.

“To be honest, the Black Lion is a place where commoners come to sell gossip or information they gain while working for merchants, nobles, or even the royal family. We rarely send people to actively obtain information for us, but this time, I have sent people I trust to look into the matter. I am sure that they will return with some information about this An He. If they cannot dig up any information, then there really is nothing about him in this city.” Gao Yan said with a furrowed brow and deep within he felt that saying this was admitting defeat. To think that it was impossible for him, Gao Yan, to find information in the city he lived in was something that he could not accept. Clearing his throat, Gao Yan reached out and handed the final memory stone to Hui Yue.

“This contains the information we have about the Frozen General. The information is very vague as he has never appeared in person in this city, but we have heard about what he has done in various cities. Also, this contains why the Frozen Brigade has been the stuff that horror stories have been made of for hundreds of years. As to how old the Frozen General really is, no one truly knows.”