As the ministers bickered like hens in a coop over the emperor's decree, the executioners were already tiptoeing out of the palace gates, blades glinting in the light. It was a race against time, for the prince's head was on the chopping block. Little did the executioners know, the prince was no ordinary mortal. Tolly had him under his protection. He suddenly asked General Addison, “Can you do me a favor?” “Of course, Your Highness”, said General Addison, ”I won’t allow these bastards to kill you no matter the cost.” “I’ve got a white feather in my pocket. Please take it out and burn it,” said Prince Hobart. “Okay, I’ll do it,” said General Addison. Without any delay, General Addison immediately got a white feather out of the pocket. Though not knowing what was the use of it, he realized it must be an important thing. Then he asked his men to bring him a torch. In a few seconds, the white feather was burnt into ashes. As Tolly rode on the horse with Princess Yana behind him, he
As Tolly walked down the hallway, a pack of snickering teenagers trailed behind him, their crude taunts ringing in his ears like an incessant buzz. "Golden or yellow, shower or sugar, all go into a magical bucket.”, they jeered, “Who in the world turns himself into this bucket? Definitely Tolly Toilet! Remember to pee and poo in the Tolly Toilet! " They erupted into peals of laughter, with their mirthful faces twisted with derision. Tolly felt his face flush with shame and anger. Among them stood the hulking figure of Sam Hofmann. He was big and beefy, his thick lips curled in a sneer that revealed a row of discolored teeth, his crooked incisors jutting out like fangs, which could arouse anyone’s desire to hammer them back into his mouth. This was not the first time Tolly had endured such torment. The relentless bullying had already become a daily ordeal. And Tolly was losing his patience. Normally, whenever taunted in the past, Tolly's cheeks would burn with embarrassment. And i
It wasn't long before Tolly walked out of the campus alone. Outside the campus was a wide road, lined with huge sycamore trees, like loyal warriors, tirelessly guarding everything before them. It was a cool autumn day when the leaves of the sycamore trees were falling in the wind. Tolly enjoyed the beautiful landscape around him and some part of a famous poem flashed into his mind: Is the departure of the leaves the wind's pursuit or the tree’s refusal to ask them to stay? When walking quietly along the road for about a few hundred meters, he arrived at the busiest street behind the school--Tinselow Street. This was the first time he had been here on the street since he, as a poor boy, usually ate and drank at school and seldom hung out for fun outside the school. The street was familiar yet foreign to him. It felt familiar because he found many of his classmates walking along. They seemed to be regular visitors to the street. However, Tolly was not in the mood to talk to them. At
Picking up one of her tiny needles, Luna stuck it into his arm many times, letting it fly up and down on it like an exciting dragon. Quickly, tiny beads of blood oozed out of Tolly’s arm. Nevertheless, Luna didn’t feel intimidated at all. From her beautiful appearance, she looked like Venus on a half shell rising slowly from the sea, but she was tough deep down. Tolly’s arm was like a tract of land left to be tilled by Luna, on which she was allowed to show her brilliance and sow her talent seeds. Luna, like a hard-working farmer, wiping away the little beads of blood off the arm proficiently, was now concentrating on her artwork. One could also put it another way, Tolly’s arm was like a small canvas waiting for her to paint the most beautiful picture on it. Before she knew it, more than two hours had passed. Gazing at her own gorgeous tattoo artwork on Tolly’s arm, Luna heaved a relieving sigh. At last, she finished her artwork. ‘What a nice tattoo!’ she thought. Taking a sip of
“Watch out! I’ll break your legs!” Sam prepared to lunge at Tolly--the short, thin, and nasty boy before him. Tolly instinctively took a few steps backward. At the same time, he stretched out his hand to signal him to stop. “Are you scared, huh?” Sam sneered, “Looks like you don’t want to lick my shoes. It’s all right then. You can choose to crawl through under my crotch. Anyway, it’s not a bad choice. Do it now or I’ll beat the living snot out of you. I can promise your snot is going to fly out of your skull. It’ll be awesome!” Tolly shook his head slowly, saying, “That’s funny, huh? But I think you are such an idiot! Look, aren’t you afraid that I use my DRAGON GRIP when I get through under your crotch?” “Dragon grip??!! What is that?” “If you don’t want to be a eunuch, just let me do it! I can assure you that you’ll soon know the true meaning of DRAGON GRIP.” With that, Tolly laughed uncontrollably, raising his loose palm into the air and all at once changing it into a tigh
Darkness! There was darkness before his eyes. “Where am I now? Am I dead?” Tolly lay motionless on the ground, his eyes closed. Sharp pain arced through his body and a sickening, burning smell came to his nostrils. “Did I really get struck by lightning?” Tolly remembered that he had just been dealing with Sam and his friends on the roof of the school building and that the heavens were even about to help him by exacting divine retribution on them. He had expected that the blue lightning would have struck them, but instead, it had gone to him without any mercy. He was by no means an evil person, after all. He could not even be able to stand himself to step on an ant when walking outside. Was it that the heavens did not act from any wish to be benevolent and dealt with all things as sacrificial straw dogs? ‘But why did it have to occur to me? What a crazy world!’ Tolly thought, ‘Goodbye, my dear Jenny! And see you, my beautiful Luna! The tattoo looks good to me, yet it couldn’t b
Looking at the dispersing crowd, Tolly was also taken aback as he noticed that they were all dressed in ancient costumes. The costumes were all made of rough cloth and without any trace of industrial polyester material. What horrified him most was that he wasn't even in any scene of film shooting, for he didn’t have any cameras or cameramen in sight. In the distance, he didn’t see any telephone lines, or cars, either. And no one was holding a mobile phone in their hands. There was no evidence of industrial society that he had been familiar with. ‘Oh, Hee-hee was just telling me the truth. I’ve transmigrated into a new world…’ Tolly thought. “A-a-are you a zombie, or a scary demon that comes out of nowhere? Oh, my god, is there somebody there who can help me?” The coroner beside him quivered as he pointed at Tolly. He was so terrified that he fell flat onto the ground. He decided to take his leave without saying goodbye, but his feet, not obedient to him at all, did not be able to
As Miss Smith turned to leave, Tolly immediately followed her, but he was stopped by Luna, the girl in purple. Tolly was about to talk to Luna about his tattoo, but before he could open his mouth, Luna said something first. “Have you forgotten who you are? You know the rules, get your ass back in line.” However, Tolly, whose mind was still in the role of the high school student in his past life, stubbornly assumed that Miss Smith was her classmate, Jenny. Luna’s words went in one ear and out the other. It seemed that he did not take them seriously. He even began to yell from behind. “Wait, Jenny! Wait up, Jenny!” As he said this, he trotted and tried to get closer to Jenny. What he had done made Miss Smith feel embarrassed in public. Hence, in order to not to attract the attention of the crowd, she said to Luna quietly, “Never mind, Luna, let him follow you. It’s not decent for us the people from the Duke’s Mansion to yell in public. They will take it as a joke!” Luna nodded h
As the ministers bickered like hens in a coop over the emperor's decree, the executioners were already tiptoeing out of the palace gates, blades glinting in the light. It was a race against time, for the prince's head was on the chopping block. Little did the executioners know, the prince was no ordinary mortal. Tolly had him under his protection. He suddenly asked General Addison, “Can you do me a favor?” “Of course, Your Highness”, said General Addison, ”I won’t allow these bastards to kill you no matter the cost.” “I’ve got a white feather in my pocket. Please take it out and burn it,” said Prince Hobart. “Okay, I’ll do it,” said General Addison. Without any delay, General Addison immediately got a white feather out of the pocket. Though not knowing what was the use of it, he realized it must be an important thing. Then he asked his men to bring him a torch. In a few seconds, the white feather was burnt into ashes. As Tolly rode on the horse with Princess Yana behind him, he
“Fate has brough us here to meet you, Princess Yana,” said General Logan Kline, determined to take Princess Yana back to the court,“Your Highness, by His Majesty’s order, I have come here to bring you back to the palace. Hundreds of officials have spoken on your behalf, and you need not worry.”“Don’t believe him,” said Tolly with a sneer, “Your father would not listen to those officials. Once you’re in the palace, you’ll be dangerous.”The princess’s eyes flickered with a mixture of fear and resignation.“I know very well that I cannot escape this great calamity,” she admitted, her voice filled with weariness, “I’m not afraid of death, but I am so tired from my journey that I can no longer walk. Would you be so kind as to let me ride on your horse?”General Logan Kline nodded without hesitation.“You may ride on my horse, Your Highness, and I will follow on foot,” he declared, his unwavering loyalty to the princess shining through his every word.Yet, once Princess Yana mounted the
“Okay, let’s go!” said Tolly.Before they started their journey, Tolly suddenly heard the clicking sounds in his bones. All the vital energy inside his body started to circulate. Tolly thought he probably broke through to a new level. With a flutter in his eyes, he quickly checked his status on the screen before his eyes.[Name: Hidden Dragon][Owner: Tolly Harmsworth][Level: 2 as a master-level cultivator][Talent for Cultivation: D level (Hidden Invincible Level)][Wrath Points: 3999][Exp Points: 2790][ Main Art: Lotus Technique, which can be hedged by the Six Sun Technique; Puppet Control Technique;][Current Guardians: Blue lightning bird, activated; Fire Phoenix, activated; Water Dragon, activated; Rock Roc, activated. ]He was glad to see that he was at level 2 as a master cultivator.“What are you looking at?” asked Princess Yana when she saw Tolly stare at something.“Nothing,” said Tolly with a smile, “let’s roll!”They quickly got out of the temple and decided to continue
It looked like the black cat's sharp claws loomed closer to Tolly's body. His heart was racing, but he didn't lose his composure. In a flash, he executed the Shadowy Lotus Move, saving Princess Yana from the cat's attack just in the nick of time. The black cat was stunned, its voice shaking with disbelief. "How do you know the Shadowy Lotus Move? It's an ancient art that has been lost for over a thousand years. Who are you?" it demanded. Tolly's lips curled into a sneer. He "My name is not something I care to share with a beast like you," retorted Tolly, his lips curling into a sneer, still holding the Princess in his arms. But as he caught a whiff of her alluring scent, it quickly turned him on. He had to put her down to avoid any embarrassment. "Go hide behind the statue," Tolly whispered to Princess Yana, his eyes locked on the witch in front of him. "I'll deal with this monster." “Hey, I’m not a monster,” said the cat in a furious voice. Instantly, the black’s anger boil ov
"You taught the people the ways of decency and honor," Princess Yana whispered reverently. "I am a descendant of the rose Dynasty, but my father, Emperor William, has brought shame to our name with his heinous crimes. I have fled his tyranny and seek refuge in your sacred temple for the night. If you protect me until dawn, I vow to rebuild this temple and enshrine your statue in gold."Tolly also followed suit. He knelt down before the statue and kowtowed three times. Instantly, he had flutters in his eyes.With a ding, he got a new notification on the screen before his eyes.[Detected a new secret manual here inside the temple. Would you like to get it?]Tolly was very excited because he did not expect that this was another unknowable place where a great secret manual was hidden.Without any thinking, he had a ‘yes’ notion in his mind and posed a question in his mind,“Where is the secret manual? How do I find it?”[Just under the cushion you're kneeling on.]It looked like his syste
Once alone, General Addison summoned his trusted general to discuss the situation. “General Paul Bailey and Logan Kline have come with the emperor’s official tally, demanding 4,000 flying horsemen to pursue the princes,” revealed General Adddison, “But we can’t spare our strongest warriors for this task. Select only the weakest, the elderly, and the injured. Let Geneal Paul Bailey and Longan Kline take them tomorrow.” The next morning, Geneal Paul Bailey and Longan Kline arrived to find their men looking as feeble as a mouse caught in a trap. The sorry sight of the stumbling and floundering army was enough to make them shake their heads in disbelief. But the Carlson brothers were already on their way, having traveled for two days with the young princes. Benji Frost knew they had come too far to turn back now, and they needed to take action. "Brother, we're in a bit of a pickle," he said to his brother Blair Frost . "We've got to spend some money to get out of this mess. But sellin
“You’re spot on, Minister Ross Russel,” nodded General Addison in agreement.The rest of the officials remained tight-lipped as the prince and the princess wept profusely. Benji Frost and Blair Frost ushed through the throngs of people with great fervor.“Emperor William is a malicious despot. By ordering the execution of his own children, he’s attempting to sever his own ancestral lineage, and by murdering his wife, he’s defied all ethical codes. We’ll escort the prince and the princess to their maternal grandfather Bill Washington and raise an army to depose him. This is nothing short of a rebellion.”Benji Frost hoisted Prince Hobart onto his shoulders and Blair Frost took charge of Princess Yana. They made their escape from the capital through the southern gate. Tolly, in disguise of Cloud River, was happy that he had two more helpers, though they did not decide to go to Fanta city yet.‘Perhaps I can go to see Bill Washington together with them first and then see what I can do th
“That monster has already taken his own wife's life, and now he seeks to spill the blood of his own flesh and blood. You're not safe here, my dear prince and princess. Seek refuge in the Fragrant Palace with Concubine Yvonne until a powerful minister can plead your case before the emperor. Only then will you be out of harm's way," she advised them, hoping to offer them a glimmer of hope in these dark times.“Go with me,” said Cloud River, “I think the Fragrant Palace is not safe, either. You know, the emperor has gone crazy!”Yet, they did not take his advice. Instead, the prince and the princess knelt down before Concubine Harper."Oh, gracious Lady! Your kindness knows no bounds. My mother lies here, exposed to the elements, and we are forever in your debt if you could provide her with a coffin," Prince Hobart exclaimed, his voice quivering with emotion.The concubine nodded solemnly, her eyes gleaming with tears. "You had best make haste and leave this place as soon as possible,"
As Concubine Harper approached the imposing gate of the West Palace, she was accosted by a rugged-looking man who seemed to have sprung from nowhere."Who goes there?" she demanded, readying herself for any trouble. But the man, none other than Tolly in the disguise of Cloud River, seemed unperturbed by her hostility."Lead me to Empress Guma, I’m her friend. " he said urgently, "I gave her a gift a few days ago- White Feather. But it appears that it’s been burned away. Something horrible must have happened to her. I fear the worst."“You’re right,” said Concubine Harper in surprise, “Come with me. I hope you can help her out.”As they rushed to the scene, they found Empress Guma lying on the ground, her once-vibrant clothes now soaked in crimson blood. Cloud River let out a mournful cry."Forgive me, Your Majesty. I should have come sooner," he wailed.But Empress Guma, still clinging to life, managed a faint smile."Don't blame yourself, Mr. Cloud River. It's all my fault. I shoul