Prince and His Fool

Rong Zian almost lost his footing as he found himself surrounded by enormous trees oozing with a dark spectral force that he could almost hear faint screams of lost souls. Wu Yange gave him a reassuring warm gaze before leading the way and with him in the middle, the party carefully hiked through the forest. The screams intensified as they hiked deeper into the heart of the forest, scaring the wits out of Rong Zian.

Tūnshì zhě was truly a mythical forest filled with mostly extraordinary webbed trunk trees and dawn redwood trees. Some trees were covered in thick cobwebs spanned for generations and others with a magical glow like a fireflies' nest. The tomblike aura ruined what could have been a beautiful forest with slimy grass and a stench of death in the air.

Though he tried to remain calm, Rong Zian was extremely terrified with goosebumps all over his body missing his step countless times. He kept on mumbling to himself, "I am a man…..I am a man. I can't be scared," but he suddenly lost his cool when he spotted a skull covered in wriggling maggots in between some aerial roots.

Freaking out he screamed"AAAAAAHHHHHH! I am not a-!" in terror as a rush of adrenaline coursed through his veins as though injected with chicken blood and made a run for it. The prince wanted to stop him but gave up when he saw Rong Zian's shadow flash before him at light speed. 'If only he fought as well as he does running, wouldn't that be better,' thought Wu Yange, hurrying to catch up with Bolt.

Rong Zian only stopped running once he reached the end of the forest to catch his breath, completely oblivious to what was in front of him.

"I fuckin' studied chemistry, okay! Not stupid anatomy," he said fighting off the image of the gross skull out of his mind as he struggled to combat the urge to puke his guts out. It was only when the others caught up that he realised something was up.

The three men stood in front of what would be described as the most beautiful hedge they had ever seen. It seemed endless in all three dimensions with vines as big as a human's head and the most exquisite flowers the size of a fist. Rong Zian squatted before one of the flowers that were close to the ground and just like a teenager with wandering hands, he poked the petals with a stick and some of the pollen-filled the air making him sneeze as he inhaled the particles.

"Are you an idiot? Don't touch anything!" scolded the prince as he grabbed his wrist. Rong Zian's ears turned red ridden with guilt but he had no chance to conjure a response as he was forcefully pushed back by the prince. With a glint of rage in his eyes, he was about to complain when he saw Wu Yange slashing a vine which had struck where he once stood. The vine hissed as though disgruntled falling to the ground instigating a full-blown attack from the rest of the vines. Like multiple snakes slithering from the hedge, the vines struck mercilessly at their prey.

'Safety first,' thought Rong Zian as he immediately distanced himself from the impending chaos and watched the event unfold. Wu Yange unsheathed his sword again slicing through multiple vines at once but they were relentless. Ying Tie was not faring any better, he tore several vines from the root but more emerged from above him in an attempt to engulf him.

The situation escalated to a whole new level as the prince effortlessly trimmed the vile plants but his patience was wearing thin. He furrowed his brows in deep annoyance, in an instant he summoned his full power with no hesitation. Blistering blinding azure flames surfaced around his body contorting his temperament, elevating his swagger. A gusty gale formed out of nowhere transforming a beautiful sunny sky into a gloomy atmosphere filled with grey stormy clouds.

His sword shadowed its master engulfing itself in azure flames and hovering above waiting for instructions as though it had a mind of its own. As expected, Houyan and Huore, his twin oriental dragons made a special appearance exhibiting their gigantic snake-like bodies with an elusive mystical blue-black fog surrounding them. The beautiful creatures were mesmerising, one would feel the need to pet them.

With no restraint the dragon went on the offence, aggressively scorching the unruly vines to a cinder. Their flames were even more vicious than the rumours with a searing heat that could incinerate a whole person where they stand. Wu Yange led the attack alongside his sword as he shot blazing pressurised firestorms from the palm of his hand. The vines were instantly incinerated to oblivion when in proximity to the scorching heat.

The twin dragons were worthy of their master, taking his lead in vanquishing everything in their line of sight moving in a precise pattern as though dancing. Throughout this whole ordeal, the weather had become more violent with gusty winds bringing forth dark grey clouds accompanied by lighting, circulating at a focal point. Each time the dragons ascended they would reach the sky simultaneously as though drawing energy at the cloud focal point. Houyan and Huore would entwine with each other in a twisting motion and suddenly descend in opposite directions with a ferocious attack more intense than the previous. Concurrently they would meet at the base and ascended again repeating the same routine.

His flaming sword fought alongside its master slashing aggressively with extreme murderous intent. With each motion, a razor-sharp azure flame would ruthlessly cut the vines slicing them to ash. It was a sight to behold as they fought as one with no hesitation.

Even the strongest man was holding his ground, shredding the endless vines with his blade. In all this, a helpless Rong Zian stood furthest away with a front-row seat to the live-action. It was like watching a live shooting scene for an action film with all the risks. It was his first time witnessing the prince's power in full, exceeding his expectations. He was extremely thrilled to witness such a mind-blowing sight in the flesh. His eyes were beaming with excitement, his body exhilarated to point of forgetting how to breathe as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

'Its official Wu Yange is a fuckin' legend,' he thought to himself praising him as he watched the fight. As though the prince had read his mind, Huore broke formation passing right above Rong Zian's head in a gliding motion. A tremendous force shook the ground but he remained sturdy as the magnificent creature hovered above him.

He wasn't the least bit scared, on the contrary, he was bold enough to reach out and graze the dragon with the tip of his index finger. In a blink of an eye, the dragon was back with its twin burning vines.