Chapter 38: The four seats
"Agh!" Hu Cheng Se panicked. She tried to save her lunch box and ended up falling to the ground full of red and yellow autumn leaves. "Who the—?!" When she saw who it was, her panic turned to rage. "It's you, Qing Bo!"
Qing Bo smirked. His sharp eyes seemed to also smile as he saw Hu Cheng Se's the veins popping on her head.
"What are you doing? Can't you see a girl trying to eat her lunch in peace?"
"Oh? I don't see any girl. I do see a wild boar though, or a fish flapping its tail."
"Motherf*cker!"
"And I also see an angel in despair," Qing Bo said in a soft voice. He gazed into Hu Cheng Se's eyes.
His smirk was gone. His sharp eyes looked at her and seemed to be able to read what was in her heart. Hu Cheng Se never saw him like this before. She wanted to break his gaze and look away from him but found that she couldn't.
Qing Bo took a light step toward Hu Cheng Se and sat beside her. Taking her lunch box, he took out the delicious meal from inside and ate it like it was his own.
Hu Cheng Se's eyes widened. "Wait, that is mine!"
"Not anymore," he said as he scarfed down the food with speed.
"Give it back!" Hu Cheng Se got up and tried to snatch the lunch box back from him.
Qing Bow was faster than Hu Cheng Se, easily dodging her advances. He grinned as he jumped here and there while Hu Cheng Se tried hard to catch him.
"Qing Bo, stop it!" Hu Cheng Se shouted as she staggered. "Argh!" Her feet weren't completely healed from all the dance practicing yet. There were still bruises along the edges.
When Qing Bo saw her stagger, he dashed to her just before she fell to the ground. He caught her with one arm while still holding on to the lunch box with the other.
Surprised, Hu Cheng Se looked up at Qing Bo, whose sharp, still eyes looked down at hers. "Your body is not in the best shape, right now. Why don't you go home, fish stick?"
"How did you…" Hu Cheng Se then became enlightened, her eyes widening. "Did you purposely make me chase you so you can see whether I can move normally or not?"
"Well…" Qing Bo helped her sit down. "Something happened to Hu Ye?"
Hu Cheng Se looked up and frowned. "Just how much do you know?"
"Don't worry, I won't dig further." Qing Bo sat down next to her. He gave the lunch box back to Hu Cheng Se and said, "Go home."
Hu Cheng Se looked at the lunch box. "No, I need to take notes in class for Fourth Brother and myself."
"I see…" Qing Bo then looked at her very pale face. "Rather than talking about sad things, let's talk about something else." He grinned.
"What is it?"
"Let's talk about the Wind Dragon."
"Wind dragon?" Hu Cheng Se tilted her head. "What is that?"
"You meet master Shou almost every day but do not know about the Wind Dragon?" Qing Bo raised an eyebrow. He could not believe that the Hu residence had such an ignorant little girl as their Second Young Miss.
"Everyone has their own limit, mind you."
"Yes, but remember, you came from a military family. At least pretend to be interested and learn a bit." Qing Bo sighed.
"Just get on with it." Hu Cheng Se pouted. "Tell me, what is a wind dragon?"
"The Dragon title is used to refer to the strongest practitioner of each element; they are the most powerful among all elemental practitioners. There are four dragons—wind, fire, water, and earth. Master Shou is the Wind Dragon. The Earth Dragon is the princess of the northern earthen tribe, Terra. The Fire Dragon belongs to the crown prince of Meng. Then the Water Dragon…" Qing Bo trailed off.
"Who is the Water Dragon?" He Cheng Se said, her interest now completely piqued.
"…No one"
"Eh?!"
"After the last Water Dragon passed away a year ago, there was a conflict about who would inherit his title."
"Isn't it just the strongest one?"
"Of course, there was a candidate. The terms for someone to be a called a dragon is that they need to be the strongest and must be acknowledged by the other three dragons. Unfortunately for that candidate, when it came to the other three dragons, the Earth Dragon, Terra, refused to acknowledge him. That was why he did not become the Water Dragon."
"Pity for him."
"Yeah, but Terra soon realized that she was being too harsh, so they gave him that dragon title in the end."
"So there is a water dragon."
"Not really. He died three months later, he was very old after all."
"Wait, you are making me feel confused. So the reason for the water dragon seat being empty was because the old strong water guy was dead?! If that was so, why did you tell me the story about the Earth Dragon refusing to acknowledge him?"
"Ah, yes, sorry about that. It is because it was kind of interesting, so I thought I would just tell you about it while I was at it."
"Ayy, be straight and forward about it!"
"You see, the reason why the earthen princess refused to acknowledge the new Water Dragon was because of our Jin kingdom's missing crown prince. "
"Missing crown prince? I thought Prince Jin Min is still there at the palace."
"No, I mean the previous crown prince."
"The previous crown prince? Isn't he dead?"
"Well no, not really. No one is sure since they have never seen his corpse, though it has been years now since he last disappeared."
"Why did that Earth Dragon Terra refuse the old guy for him?"
"The Earth Dragon Terra said that only the previous crown prince was worthy of the Water Dragon title."
"The previous crown prince is an element master?"
"No one knows. Some people say that the Earth Dragon Terra just could not accept the fact that the previous crown prince might be dead so she became delusional."
"The previous crown prince, ugh… What's his name again?"
"Prince Lan, Jin Lan."
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"Hatch!" Shou sneezed on his sickbed.
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