Drunken Master

Chapter 7: Come here!

Su Jin woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed than ever, he subconsciously touched the other side of his bed only to remember that his wife wasn't there. "Haaa... Living without you is gonna be more difficult than I expected." he said to himself. He then picked up the pillow that was previously used by Huizhong and took a deep breath of it which had a feint scent of Huizhong's and that's when he realised that there was something stuffed inside the pillow. 

Slowly opening it, there was a silky red scarf inside the pillow and baby shoes made from precious material. He picked up both items with shaky hands as tears ran down his face like a waterfall,the scarf had a strong scent of Huizhong. While the baby shoes didn't have any scent on them, they still gave Su Jin an unknown feeling. The baby shoes were then tied to his waist while he wrapped the scarf around his neck even though he didn't cold or change in temperature. "They might have separated us once but they won't do it twice, I swear on my life!"

...

There was a man sitting alone on his grand throne when suddenly a shadow appeared as he knelt in front of him. "Your Majesty, I've returned from my trip!" this shadow figure was the same person that the Emperor had sent to investigate what had happened in the Su family. 

The shadow figure then reported his findings, "Interesting. Not only did Su Bao's son return but he also returned as a cultivator and was the one responsible for what happened yesterday." the Emperor then contemplated for a while as the shadow figure remained kneeling in front of him. "Dismiss!" the Emperor said after he had thought of a plan. The shadow figure then blended with the shade in the throne room and disappeared from sight. 

Come!" one of his guards standing outside the door came in rushing and prostrated himself. "Greetings Your Majesty, your humble servant has heard your call and awaits your orders." said the guard respectfully. "Give this to one of my envoys and tell them to heard to the capital city pass out my verdict." the Emperor then threw a golden scroll to the guard who caught it with shivering hands. He kowtowed before quickly rushing off to complete his task.

"Su family, it's time for you to yet again contribute to the Azure Empire..." mumbled the Emperor to himself as he relaxed on his throne and closed his eyes. 

...

Su Jin was currently relaxing under the shade of the same tree ten years ago, neither him nor anyone else knew about the chaos that would soon erupt. Su Jin only wanted to relax and that's exactly what he was doing now. He would roam around the city at times or just practice his martial arts but he here most of his time and the two youths that accompanied him here had long left, his father had awarded each of them two hundred gold coins. 

"Young Master, you're urgently requested by the Lord and I was tasked with bringing you back." Su Jin suddenly heard someone's voice while he was relaxing under the tree and opened one eye, in front of him was one of the guards. "Okay, I'll be there shortly." with his current cultivation base, reaching his father's residence was as easy as breathing and would take only a couple of seconds for him to do so. The guard then rushed back to report while Su Jin stood up slowly and stretched his body. 

Crack~

"That was refreshing." he said before he turned into a blur and disappeared, he reappeared in the same garden that he had practiced on previously. "You're here already? Great! Follow me!" said his uncle full of excitement. Su Jin wondered what had happened for his uncle to be so excited and didn't bother since he'd get his answer when he reached the place his uncle was leading him to. 

They finally reached their destination which was the room his father usually entertained important guests in. Uncle Ling slowly opened the doors and they both entered, once inside, Su Jin saw his father chatting with a men who had two escorts behind him. This man had an 'O' shaped beard and short hair, he wore luxurious robes that gave him a feeling of being elegant and refined and holding in his right hand was a golden scroll with dragon patterns covering it. "Greetings father and Seniors." Su Jin cupped his fists and greeted his father and the guests,he was very respectful to these leaders. 

"Good! Good!" the reply he got was not from his father but the man sitting opposite him, he even said 'good' three times as a warm and pleasant smile formed on his face. "What a great young fella you are. Very respectful to your elders and not arrogant at all. Good!" said the man. He was of course referring to Su Jin's talent and cultivation base, that he was still so respectful towards others and wasn't full of himself. 

"I am the envoy sent here by his Majesty to read his verdict. My name is not important since we'll never see each other again after I complete my task." the man than opened the scroll and everyone present except for him knelt on the ground, even Su Jin was kneeling. "His Majesty has heard of Su Jin's return and congratulates the City Lord for being reunited with his son. He is also astounded by Su Jin's talent and has invited him to the Royal City to broaden his knowledge and hopes Su Jin will serve the nation well."

Hearing that Su Jin was invited especially by his Majesty, the two brothers were shocked for a long time as Su Jin's expression didn't change much, he had expected this to happen. The moment he managed to split the sky was the same moment that this set itself in stone,he was just that extraordinary and his brilliance couldn't stop shining brightly in the world. 

After reading the verdict, the old man closed the scroll and gave it to Su Jin's father, this was one of his third son's greatest accomplishment, not just being acknowledged of being a genius but also being nurtured by the Royal family. As of now, Su Jin's future could be said to be many times brighter than it previously was. "I expect great things from you young man and hope that your future accomplishments will benefit the entire Azure Empire." said the envoy as he prepared to leave. 

"Thank you for your guidance, expectations and kind words from you Sir Envoy. I shall do my best for the Azure Empire, it's afterall my home." said Su Jin. The envoy's smile was brighter than it was before as he said his goodbyes to the duo of brothers. "Quickly take care of your business, we'll fetch you a month later!" said the envoy while walking away. 

The City Lord saw the envoy off and rushed back quickly after he left, "My ancestors won't complain after I meet them in the after life, all my children are geniuses and two of them were acknowledged by the Emperor himself. What more can they ask for, hahaha!" said Su Bao to himself as he returned to where Su Jin was. "Son, I have a great gift for you but whether you can or cannot obtain it up to you. This is a true once in a lifetime opportunity!" said his father. 

Uncle Ling looked at his brother with wide eyes, "Brother, you don't mean..." Su Bao nodded before Su Ling could finish speaking. I also gave this opportunity to your eldest brother and sister but they couldn't grasp it and I'm now offering it to you." It was then that Su Jin spoke, "What are you talking about father?" he was really confused by what his father was talking about. 

His father didn't answer his question and just remained silent, "Brother, now is not the time to act all profound and mysterious." said Uncle Ling as he looked at his brother trying to act cool in front of his son. "Why do you always ruin this for me? Can't I act cool just once?! Let's go!" the City Lord held the tears in his eyes as if waiting for someone to comfort him. "Father, you can cry all you want. Me and uncle won't look down on you or make fun of you so let it all out." said Su Jin. 

His father's face then turned red from anger but he didn't say anything and just increased his pace, 'Damn brat. I'll let my gift teach you a lesson' he thought to himself. They walked until they reached the treasury. "Don't tell me that I'll have to pick one treasure from the treasury as my gift? How can one fail to bring out a treasure from the treasury?!" exclaimed Su Jin in surprise. 

"Shut up and just follow me!" said his father with an angry face, there was a complex array on the treasury door. Su Jin waited for his father to open the door with a key or some secret words, he was surprised when his father took out a dagger and cut his own palm with it. He then placed his bloody palm on the array which quickly absorbed the blood and started to glow. The door then opened and they quickly entered and the door closed behind them.

Su Jin was amazed by the glow exuded by the treasures inside the treasury, there were all kinds of weapons exuding unique auras, high grade mystic plants and many gold coins and other stuff. Surprisingly, they didn't stop walking and continued until they reached the end of the treasury. This treasury was really huge, it was as big as a normal house. Once they reached the end, Su Jin asked, "You're giving me a wall as a gift?! No wonder eldest brother and sister didn't take the treasure, who'd want a wall as a treasure?!" Uncle Ling couldn't stop himself from bursting out in laughter. 

He laughed so hard that his stomach became painful and tears ran down his face as he continued laughing, veins popped on his father's forehead as his face became more red as if he ate something really spicy. He then picked up a gold coin placed in plain sight and the wall shook before the bricks used to build it turned to dust that covered the floor, he then placed his bloody hand on another array. Cultivators like Su Jin, especially when one reached a very high cultivation level, their bodies would acquire regeneration properties so minor wounds would take a few seconds to heal.

This was what was bothering Su Jin, he wondered why his father's wound wasn't healing and he finally got the answer, his father wasn't allowing it to heal. When the array formation glowed, another door opened and Su Bao's hand was already healed. Inside the secret room was a passage way which was pitch black. 

Pah Pah! 

Clapping twice, the passageway lit as it was made from light stones which their only purpose was to provide light. They walked for about a minute or so before coming into another door but there wasn't anything special about this door. His father pushed open the door and entered another room which immediately became bright the moment they entered and in the centre of the room was a sword.

"Son, I am now going to tell you the hidden truth about our family and this secret, you must not tell a single soul or else they'll be dire consequences." said his father and Su Jin promised to not tell anyone about this secret. He then waited for his father to tell him the secret, "That sword has the secret. If it recognises you as its master then you'll know the secret." said his father as he pointed to the sword. "Is this revenge for what I said to you earlier?" his father neither denied nor agreed to his question. 

"Come here!"