After leaving the imperial hall...

Just outside the palace, many horses, carriages and palanquins could be seen as the people walked past the palace gate, they were all luxuriously and expensively decorated with different animals illustrated on them according to their ranks, the low ranking ministers returned to their respective homes either by horse or walking. ​​

The prime minister entered his palanquin as soon as he walked out of the palace gate, his stool boy bent his back while he stepped on his back and climbed unto into the palanquin, he straightened his robe as he sat comfortably in the palanquin then the four people carrying the palanquin started walking forward.

The prime minister opened the window to catch a glimpse of the busy street outside the palace, the people moved out of his way and moved the side of the road with their head cowered, they were still aware that the prime minister might not be as powerful as he was before but hs still has influenced so they didn't dare stand in his way, just as he was about to close the window, his eyes caught a glimpse of an armoured horse coming close to his palanquin, he waited until the person got closer to his horse before he could see the person sitting on the horse and it turned out to be the person he expected it to be...

"Regional commander, it turns out that it was you, I was wondering who the person riding the horse was, I almost forgot about your famous horse that has accompanied you in all the battles you fought in," the prime minister said

"My horse is not that good, you are giving him too much praise, " the regional commander replied

"You and I know that I am not overpraising your horse, in the whole of tang, your horse is the only horse that has received an award from the emperor, if he was to die today, the whole country would definitely mourn him, how can you say that I an overpraising your horse" the prime minister replied

"If you think then I don't think I can change your mind"

"Regional commander, you appear to be a humble man outside but it would be great if you act the same way in front of the emperor," the prime minister said with a cunning smile hanging on his lips.

"I wonder what prime minister means by that?" the regional commander replied

"Does regional commander think that the emperor's trust is an easy burden to carry, you are still young and haven't seen much of the world as I have, I have served three emperor's during my lifetime and I can attest that the emperor's trust is not an easy burden to bear" the prime minister affirmed.

"I still don't know what point prime minister is trying to make, if there is nothing else, I will be on my way," the regional commander said, he urged his horse to move but as the horse moved a step forward, the prime minister continued...

"If you cannot bear the weight of something, it is better for you to drop it, the trust of an emperor is not something you can handle or covet because no matter what you do, you will never be able to keep that trust till the end"

"What I want is not the emperor's trust but to offer my service in helping him rule this country in peace and prosperity, that is what every minister should aim for" the regional commander answered with his back turned at the prime minister.

"You are wrong, the more his majesty trusts you, the more he suspects you because he doesn't want to lose the one minister he thinks he can place his trust in, the trust of an emperor is like a deadly but slow poison. One day when the balance bends to the doubtful side, that would be the end of you"

"Unfortunately for you, that day would never come"

"I have seen many people like you with such a naive mind in the court but they have never died naturally, perhaps you can change your fate if you drop that righteous idea of yours and come over to my side, if we combine our powers together, we will surely achieve great things," the prime minister proposed.

"It is a pity that you won't get to see me fall due to the emperor's trust as long as the people live in peace, the cause of my death is not important, I don't think you need me to achieve anything" the regional commander responded and urged his horse to move, the prime minister watched as he rode away in anger, he clenched his face and furrowed his eyebrows until the regional commander was out of sight.

The stool boy walked to the window, then he nodded as a signal for them to start moving.

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In the blood moon sect...

A young man enters a dark stone room made of stone, the large candles made the room seem even more auspicious and eerie, as he entered the room he could feel the dark aura with every step he took into the room, the smell of blood filled the whole room as he approached the innermost part of the room.

He stopped when he reached the front of the room and bowed his head with his fist and palm joined together above his head.

"My lord!" the young man greeted with his head still bowed.

"Rise!"

As he raised his head, his eyes swept through the long stairs in front of him, before it finally landed on the curtain made of black beads, dark aura filled the entire room behind the curtain so he couldn't see anything but a mirror behind the curtain and the back of a ladylike a figure sitting in front of the mirror.

"May I ask for the reason why the master has requested for my presence today...I hope there is nothing wrong?" the young man said with a hint of fear in his voice and his head slightly cowered, she slowly turned her head to the side with a sinister hanging on her lips, he raised his head to look at the figure behind the curtain again, all he could see is the red aura coming from her eyes and her blood-red lips.

"You don't need to be concerned or afraid" the woman behind the curtain entreated, she stood up from the stool she was sitting on then she opened the curtain and walked down the stairs, when she finally reached the last step, she smiled gently but he knew that her smile has always meant nothing but evil.

"I have been having a strange feeling ever since I woke up this morning so I decided to call you my disciple so I can share it with you," the woman said, this time, he raised his head and looked into her eyes even though he couldn't see anything but her evil red aura coming out of the eyehole in her mask.

She wore a black mask with a red snake painted at the edge of the mask, leaving on her lips and the tip of her nose exposed, her long hair was packed into a tight ponytail and a large gold hairpin decorated her hair, her long and majestic black robe and a long red cape that swept through the ground with every step she took, the cape is so long that even though she had descended the stairs, the end of her cape is still half the stairs.

A black stiff shawl with a red snake embroidered on it decorated her chest, she wore a set of metal claw on her hand which made her seem more dangerous but this young man didn't seem afraid of her as though he had already gotten used to her.

She moved closer to him with her index claw raised against his cheek, she traced her claw from his cheek to his neck as she moved from his front to his back, she placed one of her hand on his shoulder with her claws moving around his shoulder...

"I really think I should share this feeling with you...." she said then she pressed her claw into his neck....his eyes widened and turned red, as he let out a loud scream, after a while, he stopped screaming and entered into her spiritual realm.

She removed her claw from his neck and walked to his front with a gentle smile on her lips...

"Now tell me, what do you think?"

"I am not as gifted as master but it seems like there will soon be a change" the young man answered

"You are truly the disciple I painstakingly trained, although my divination powers have weakened and I can only sense a change of event in my spiritual realm, I have never been wrong," the woman said

"Does master mean that....."

"Yes, things are about to get interesting for us, all my plans had to be halted for years because of the flame sect seclusion but once things change, my plan would also have to change"

"Congratulation master"

"Don't congratulate me yet, there is still a long way ahead and I still haven't been able to identify the hidden force that is going to fight against me in the future?" the woman said then she walked away from him slowly.

"Is master still concerned about the divination you had years ago, I don't think that is necessary, there is no mortal that is on par with you in Tang dynasty and other nations,"

"What did I tell you about letting down your guard, do you think I am not aware of how capable I am, for my plan to work, I have to hide from the world and I can only let you help me in my future plans, you are my only disciple and all my expectations are your burden to carry"

"I am very well aware of that master, I won't disappoint your expectations" the young man replied and bowed his head.

"Very well, you may leave," the woman said then she walked towards the stairs while the young man exited the room.

"Si Feng oh Si Feng, when my plans succeed, I will tell you who you really are....." the woman said then she started laughing hysterically as she ascended the stairs, she gently moved the curtain away and sat on the stool with her front facing the mirror, she raised her index claw seductively and caressed the side of her face to her lips before resuming her hysterical laughter.

"It won't be long before I claim what belongs to me, those foolish righteous sects are the only ones standing in my way, once my dear disciple assists me in getting rid of them then the world will be mine," she said then she leaned closer to the mirror and removed the mask covering the upper half of her face.

"Who says all I want is Tang dynasty," She asked rhetorically before carving a sinister smile onto her lips.

"What I really want is the whole world, If I can't have heaven then I must have the earth" She added then she straightened her face and tilted her lips to the side.

----------------------------

"Huo Lan! Huo Lan!" a young girl called out desperately as she moved from one room to another in the cave, she was almost out of breath as she was already getting tired from calling out her name for so long without getting any answer.

"Where did she go again? I am really tired...." the girl said as she came out of the cave and looked around frantically she noticed that she has been dissapearing frequently these days but she hasn't been able to figure out where she could be even though she has been confined to the underground part of the wind sect.

After searching for a long time, she returned to the cave and paced around frantically hoping that Huo Lan would walk through the door but it didn't seem like that was going to happen anytime soon.