Chapter 242: Where in the World is Yin Zheng?

Zen jogged out of the house. Shibi was running just beside him.

“Come on, Shibi!” he said. “Hurry up before they see us.”

Shibi ran faster, climbing to Zen’s shoulder as the boy picked up the pace.

“Why we sneak?” Shibi said.

“My mom won’t let me out of the mansion without a chaperon.” He said as he picked up the pace. “I need to find Yin Zheng. Jun Nee and I have not heard from him in a while.”

He got to the gate and started walking leisurely. He hoped that the gate guards had not been briefed to not let him out of the City Lord Mansion grounds.

“Master Wang!” one of the guards said.

“I’m going for my morning walk.” Zen said.

“But we were told…”

“I cleared it with my mother,” he waved away his concern. “You can talk to her if you don’t believe me. But I will be quite mad if you waste my time asking her only to find out I am right.”

The two guards exchanged uneasy glances.

“O-Okay, Master Wang.”

Zen nodded as regally as he could. “Then I shall see you in a few hours time.”

He walked out of the gate and when he was out of sight, he began to jog again.

Zen passed by Yin Zheng’s place. Zheng was still not back home, he was confused why his friend would leave his own mother and sister alone. It did not make sense to him. Even stranger still was that Yin Zheng;s mother seemed to not be all that worried. He had expected her to be hysterical at knowing that her son was missing. But he guessed that she did not have the comfort of breaking down, considering she was the sole breadwinner of that household now that Yin Bhiki was gone.

He walked in a drooping fashion across the city. He had looked at all the public markets but he found nothing. Now he was dragging his feet, not so much out of exhaustion but more from feeling the hopelessness of not know where his friend was.

“Hey you! What are you doing here?”

Zen stopped at the sound of the high pitched voice. He turned around to face the kid who had called out to him. The kid looked up at Zen in awe, which just confused the teenager.

“Uhm… do I know you?” Zen said.

“Aww, you already forgot me?” the boy said in sadness.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ve ever met you.”

“Well I know you!” the boy said, thumbing his chest in pride. “You’re nose might be less ugly but I recognise, especially with that red monkey on your shoulder.”

Zen smirked before whispering to Shibi, “Shibi, play nice.”

The Scorch Ape rolled its eyes before leaping off Zen’s shoulder and into the boy’s arns. The boy giggled. “So soft and warm!”

“So where do you know me and Shibi from?”

“From that time in the Yellow Market.” The boy said, patting Shibi’s orange and red fur. “That mean lady with the awful voice told her people to take my daddy’s stuff. I threw a tomato at her cause I was so angry. Then the soldiers chased after me. They would’ve caught me too if you didn’t kick the table in their way.”

Zen’s eyes widened at hearing the story. “Oh, you’re that kid!”

He nodded in excitement. “I thought you would be at the commoner meeting, like my dad was.”

“Commoner meeting?” Zen repeated. He leaned down to the boy so he was at eye level with him. “You think you can take me to this commoner meeting?”

The little boy led Zen to a large building. There were two guards at the door.

“Who are you?” the guard said.

“Wang Zen,” Zen said honestly. He knew the Wang name were for commoners, so he thought he would have no problem with getting through with his original name.

“He is my friend.” The boy said. “He was there helping when the Li Family took the Yellow Market.

The guard nodded and let him in.

Zen breathed a sigh of relief as he entered the room.

There was a group of people already gathered in the hallway. He recognised a few small time merchants in the number of commoners.

Zen looked at the center. The person who was speaking on stage was unfamiliar to Zen.

“There is my daddy,” the boy pointed.

“Alright, you go to him, I’ll just stay here.” Zen said.

The boy nodded. Shibi leapt off the boy back to Zen’s shoulder. Zen walked deeper into the crowd, not really listening to the man on stage. He was more focussed on the people around him. He was starting to grow scared. All around him he could spot a few people wearing all black, wearing black headbands.

The all black men in headbands kept a sharp eye out across the crowd. Zen tried his best not meet their eyes and draw any attention to himself and Shibi. He saw a woman, wearing the same black uniform as the others, but her back was turned towards him. He stood near her, trying to look inconspicuous as he studied the symbol on the woman’s back.

It was a character that meant ‘Mark’. That is when he realised what it meant, the woman in black was a member of the group that had burned down the Li Family Mansion, The Black Mark! He looked around the room, suddenly realised that he was indeed surrounded. All around him, looking out and keeping a close eye on commoners. He was surrounded by the Black Mark!