Wu Chen took a sip of the aromatic tea, his eyes wandering to his new Guardian, who was currently assessing an approaching group of five men dressed alike. The two had stumbled upon the small tea shed on the side of the road and decided to stop for a moment to enjoy a quick break. They were currently the only customers, but the boss was nice, and the warm tea was welcome.

He was rather surprised at how kind and gentle Chu Haoyu had been these last weeks. He had been attentive and thoughtful enough that Wu Chen had come to the conclusion that he had gotten Chu Haoyu all wrong. Maybe it was the lingering melancholy after losing Lu Yong, but Wu Chen didn't want fear and suspicion to rule him anymore.

Chu Haoyu was his Guardian now, and despite Wu Chen being uncomfortable after his earlier confession, he had done nothing untoward. In fact, Chu Haoyu had saved his life and given a proper burial to Lu Yong. He'd even personally carved a beautiful memorial tablet for him. He deserved some trust after so many favors.

Chu Haoyu set his teacup down, and his gaze grew sharp. 'Be wary. I've got a bad feeling about this group.'

Wu Chen nodded and took a sip of his tea as he watched the five approach the tea shed from beneath lowered lashes.

They were dressed in black robes, their deep red underrobes, and matching red trousers peeking from underneath. Each one had their hair done up tightly in a topknot crowned with a black leather band and a red jade pin. Although they matched in all else, no two weapons carried by the men were alike. An eye-catching red jade ornament dangled from their belts and glinted as they walked.

The red jade ornaments hanging from their belts were unique to only one sect. Rongyupai, The Honor Sect.

Rongyupai was a sect of elite warriors well known for their contributions to the righteous sects. They held an unwavering belief that honor and ability on the battlefield should be most important in reaching the Dao. As a whole, they tended to be arrogant and aloof. Their only mode of recruitment was by invitation, so they never held or participated in a recruitment event. Their disciples regularly won the top spots in inter-sect competitions, and they were always the first to volunteer to take on the toughest assignments. Most serious warriors with any cultivation whatsoever dreamed of receiving one of their personal invitations.

Wu Chen was not one of them.

The five stepped up to the tea shed and grabbed a couple of the small tables to push them together. Then they sat and ordered several pots of tea as they turned to the only other two also relaxing in the shed.

The one with the longsword on his hip got up and, after looking the two over, made a slight bow toward Wu Chen. 'I am sorry to bother you, but we have traveled a great distance in search of a person. Would you by any chance be Wu Chen Gongzi, second son of Wu Bao?'

Wu Chen calmly set down his teacup and eyed the group warily. 'I am, and who is doing the asking?'

The serious young man gave a polite palm to fist bow and introduced himself, 'I am Sun Kai, direct disciple of Sect Master Chung of Rongyupai.'

All of the disciples then rose to their feet as one and also gave a polite palm to fist bow. Sun Kai motioned toward them and said, 'These are direct disciples of various other Masters in our sect in case you have a special interest. As you can see, they each carry the weapon they specialize in.'

Wu Chen was a little confused, 'Special interest?'

Sun Kai nodded, 'Yes. We are well aware of your ability with dual swords but are not sure if there are other weapons that also interest you. Therefore, we thought we would offer you options.'

Chu Haoyu watched all this with a slight grin and then turned to Wu Chen. In a loud whisper, he said, 'I think this is Sun Kai's roundabout way of asking you to join their sect.'

Wu Chen played along, having figured it out. He squinted his eyes and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'That's strange. I recall having turned down the invitation I received from Rongyupai a couple of years ago. They've never shown any further interest since then.'

Chu Haoyu nodded sagely, his laughing eyes returning to the now reddened face of Sun Kai.

'Wu Chen Gongzi, we are aware that you have been traveling for some time. Perhaps you have not heard of the current troubles between the sects and the clans?' Sneered one of the disciples who carried a large war hammer on his back. His condescending attitude towards Wu Chen was clear for everyone to see. Sun Kai frowned at him and motioned for the other disciples to take a seat, which they quickly did.

'Troubles?' Wu Chen picked up his teacup again and took a small sip. 'I had understood that the sects were overtly threatening to destroy any clans that didn't choose a sect to drop to their knees and kowtow to. In fact, several clans have already been completely wiped out because they refused such a humiliating demand. Wouldn't that be a more accurate portrayal of these 'troubles'?'

Sun Kai's face went from red to white very quickly. Wu Chen was fascinated, and Chu Haoyu was doing his best not to laugh out loud. 'Wu Chen Gongzi, not all sects believe this is the proper path to solving this issue.' The proud disciple finally gritted out.

Wu Chen leaned forward, his fox eyes narrowing. 'So instead, your sect sent out a group of their best disciples in hopes of using my obviously over developed ego to tempt me to join your very exclusive sect, thereby forcing my father to choose your sect rather than one of the others without your sect having to provide concessions. Correct, Sun Kai Gongzi?'

'Wu Chen Gongzi...I...' Sun Kai stammered, having been caught fairly. This Wu Chen wasn't as simple or as egotistic as they had been led to believe.

Chu Haoyu finally laughed, 'Honor Sect? What was so honorable in this exchange, young Sun Kai? No wonder your sect is slowly dying.'

The other Rongyupai disciples stood quickly, their hands resting lightly on their weapons. All eyes were glaring at Chu Haoyu, who simply took a sip of his tea still chuckling. There wasn't the slightest hint of fear from him.

Wu Chen waved as if it was of no importance to him, which it wasn't. 'Let's forget it, Sun Kai Gongzi. Just pretend you didn't find me, and we can all forget this conversation ever happened. Hmmm?' Wu Chen calmly took another sip of his now tepid tea.

Sun Kai was shaking from head to toe. He wasn't sure who he was angrier at, Wu Chen, and his far too accurate assessments, or Chu Haoyu for insulting him and his sect. He hadn't been happy about this assignment anyway, as it hadn't seemed very honorable to him. But the Sect Master wanted to avoid having to go against their usual methods by competing against the other sects for mere clan members. He thought using this method was a way to avoid all the unpleasantness associated with the whole clan/sect issue.

The Sect Master had severely miscalculated.

'Tch! Just forget him.' The war hammer disciple said with a roll of his eyes. 'One decent clan member can't make up for the rest being inadequate. I don't know why the Sect Master wants to control a bunch of low level cultivators like the Wu Clan anyway.'

Before anyone could move, Wu Chen had launched himself at the offending disciple, and now his crossed swords surrounded the man's thick neck like deadly shears. The war hammer disciple hadn't even seen him coming! He didn't dare breathe for fear that the swords would slice into him. They were that close.

'You came to me, you sorry piece of shit!' Wu Chen gritted out, his eyes burning with anger, his aura strong and pulsing with killing intent. 'I had better hear you apologize for insulting my clan, or your brothers here can take your head home in a box!'

Nobody dared to move. Nobody even dared to breathe.

'I...I...I apologize, Wu Chen Gongzi. This disciple was wrong. The Wu Clan is an honorable clan of warriors, and I had no right to insult them.' The sweating man stammered out, fear gripping his bowels for the first time. How could he possibly have known that a pretty little thing like this Wu Chen had this kind of battle presence? He felt like he was truly a frog in a well.

Chu Haoyu was also caught off guard. He hadn't realized that Wu Chen's mood had deteriorated to this extent. He was not normally someone who was provoked this easily. If he didn't take action soon, Wu Chen might get himself into more trouble than they needed right now.

'Wu Chen, the man has apologized, and they've heard your answer.' Chu Haoyu drawled as he calmly set his teacup down along with a silver tael for the proprietor. 'We should get going. We still have a long journey ahead of us.'

Wu Chen was shaking, and his eyes still burned, but he released the man with an angry grunt and sheathed his swords smoothly. Casting one last glare over the shocked disciples, he stomped off down the road, forcing Chu Haoyu to chase after him.

'Wu Chen,' Chu Haoyu said, trying to catch up to him and get his attention. 'Wu Chen, calm down.' As Chu Haoyu drew even with Wu Chen, he noticed tears were slowly sliding down his beautiful face.

Not thinking of the consequences, just knowing his heart was breaking, Chu Haoyu grabbed Wu Chen and pulled him into the trees out of sight of the road. Then he crushed him in a tight hug, pressed him against his chest, and gently stroked his hair.

'It's ok.' He whispered as Wu Chen choked and sobbed against him. 'I've got you. It's ok.' He kept whispering as Wu Chen finally broke down and cried his eyes out. Everything he'd held inside poured out of him. His anger, his concern for his family, his frustration, his grief...all of it. Chu Haoyu let him soak his robes and pound his chest. Whatever he needed, he willingly gave it to him.

It was some time before Wu Chen was able to pull himself together. He was embarrassed at his pitiful display, but his chest didn't feel like a weight was pressing on it anymore. He really did feel better.

With a deeply red face, he pulled away from Chu Haoyu and turned away, wiping his face with a soft cloth. After several deep breaths, he quietly said, 'Thank you...for that. I'm sorry. I don't know what happened.'

'I've been there.' Chu Haoyu said, feeling cold now that Wu Chen wasn't pressed against him. 'Don't worry about it. I'm always here if you need me.'

Wu Chen nodded and gave Chu Haoyu a watery smile. Then, in silent agreement, they returned to the road to continue their journey.

Wu Chen was very grateful to Chu Haoyu, and his eyes kept peeking at his soaked robes. His face flushed once more, knowing he had been so sweet and understanding. For the first time, he really felt close to his new Guardian, and a small smile replaced his gloomy face.

Chu Haoyu noticed that smile. How could he not? Now that his emotional dam had finally burst, Wu Chen could begin to heal. It was the first step towards his heart. Chu Haoyu smiled as he allowed his sinful memories to play through his mind.

He could hardly wait.