Chapter 22 No Place Like Home

Eznho departed from the inn early in the morning with a horse cart in tow going back to Fragrant Pavilion. Nothing much has changed since he left a year ago. He stopped by a familiar place, the place where they bumped into the fatty kid and the little ‘blue’ girl.

Taking a deep breath, he continued forward until a familiar view came into his sight, the place where he grew up. The roof was covered in snow, but besides that and drunk people coming out of the door, the place was the same as he remembered.

A smile hung on his face, he felt better now that he was in a familiar place away from violence and killing. Following a route, he went straight at the back and unloaded his things. Although he was excited, he did not go to his aunt as he knew it was her resting time. Opening his bedroom, he brought in his things and went straight to his bed.

“Ahh, nothing feels better than sleeping in your own bed.”

He was smiling and actually fell asleep until noon.

.....

Minchin for the past year has been busying herself at work to get her mind off about Eznho’s situation. She tried her best to stay positive that his little Ez will come back. Judging by the days, Eznho would come back within this week which made her more excited and at the same nervous that nobody would show up. She did the same routine as she previously did and went home after work. It was already noon when she woke up and started to prepare lunch when a knock on the door was heard.

“Who is it?” she could not help but ask, it was rare for people to visit her but nobody answered.

She walked towards the door and slowly opened it, when she saw who knocked she froze for a couple of seconds with wide eyes before coming back to reality.

“Little Ez!” She shouted with excitement and hugged Eznho tightly that made it hard for him to breath.

“I can’t breath,” Eznho struggled to say.

“Ow, sorry little Ez, I got too excited,” Aunt Minchin was full of smiles while her eyes started to moisten then let go of Eznho while inspecting him.

“Look at you you’ve grown taller again.”

Physically, there was not much difference since they last met, he was just a bit tad taller. What was more discerning was the change in his demeanor, compared to his silent and childlike attitude before, he looked more matured now as if he had experienced many things in life. She was surprised but did not linger on it, what was more important was his little Ez came back to her at last.

“Come in, little Ez. You surprised me, when did you come back?”

She asked with enthusiasm and even forgot about her lunch.

“A few days ago but I had to do something first and just got home this morning.”

Eznho replied with an apologetic smile.

“Hmph! You’ve got more important things other than me? Is it a girl?”

Minchin harrumph trying to act angry while teasing him. Eznho felt guilty and immediately thought about something to ease her aunt’s ranting and took out the jewelry box.

“I got something for you Aunt,”

Minchin was surprised when she saw the jewelry box with an exquisite design, she was a lady after all and knew that an expensive item was inside. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

“Little Ez, did become a thief?”

Eznho smile wryly after hearing her aunts inquiry.

“Of course not aunt, I bought it with my own money you see,”

Minchin was still a little skeptical but received the box and was further taken aback with what she saw inside.

“Are these real pearls? They’re beautiful!”

Eznho felt joy inside and kept on smiling while looking at her aunt’s excited face.

“Wait a minute little Ez, are you sure you used your own money? These pearls are expensive and can only be bought in the northern district. Even if you have the money you can’t easily go inside and out the district without proof of wealth or backing.”

She became more suspicious, one had to know even she herself had only entered the district once and could only look at the jewelry sold there with envy. Her most valuable jewelry was only worth a few gold coins.

“Okay aunt, let me clear my name and tell you what happened while I was away...” Eznho wanted to clear his aunt's suspicions and started narrating his adventures but omitted things like him being poisoned, the ominous gray flame he encountered, his cultivation, the attempted assassination and the like. He did not want to make her aunt worry to death especially now that he planned to take his revenge.

“That happened? Wow...” Minchin, on the other hand, could not help but be surprised and even laughed when Eznho mentioned the smelly old man. What startled her the most was the time when Eznho found lots of gold and got paid with a bank card that contains thousands of gold.

“Hmmm, so just because you got rich, you wasted it already?” She teased.

“No, no, Aunt, I just wanted to buy something nice for you and big brother,” Eznho tried to explain.

“Just kidding little Ez,” Minchin’s eyes started to moisten again and hugged him tightly. She was truly happy and wanted to savor the moment and thought about the boy’s mother.

“Mirna, your little boy is growing up already.”

.....

It was already evening but both of them continued to chat non-stop, it was also a surprise for Minchin that Eznho can hold a conversation this long which made her glad. She was wearing the pearl necklace which complemented her beauty.

“Speaking of the devil, why hasn’t that Martin showed up yet?”

Minchin mentioned while they were sipping tea.

“I am wondering about that too aunt, but I am sure he will come sooner or later.”

Eznho answered with a positive outlook.

.....

Inside the one of the military’s medical tent, Martin was lying in bed unconscious with a bandage wrapped around his chest. The old doctor and Captain Batista were standing beside the bed.

“He regained consciousness a few times for a few seconds before falling back into a coma again. I am positive he will regain consciousness soon but I am not sure how long. Based on my examinations, he is not in danger anymore although his heart was wounded. I had to treat him carefully because he does not cultivate and had to dilute the medicines so his body can absorb it slowly.”

The old doctor looked exhausted but still tried to explain as much as he can.

“I’ll leave him to you now captain, I have to attend to the others.”

“Thank you, doctor Liu, as long as he’s out of death’s door that would be enough.”

Batista expressed his thanks to the doctor and took a seat while waiting for Martin to regain his consciousness.

An hour has passed and Martin started to move his eyes then slowly opened them. He was in the same room as he was in when he was in and out of consciousness. He tried to hold onto it and started to adjust his vision. Medicinal aroma entered his nose that made him more comfortable and he even tried to get up.

“Arghh!”

An unbearable pain came from his chest that made him almost lapse back into losing his consciousness. He started sweating bullets due to the pain when he heard a voice beside him.

“Don’t force yourself, Martin, just try to relax and do not move recklessly. Your internal wound hasn’t healed yet.”

Batista tried his best to show an amicable smile despite his stern face. Martin started to clear his head and relaxed then spoke slowly.

“Captain, how long have I been out?”

“Almost a week since the incident, I haven’t properly thanked you yet. My son is patrolling so he’ll come later. Thank you for risking your life and saving my only son, I will never forget this debt.”

Batista sincerely bowed despite the huge difference in status and rank.

“Just doing my job sir, no need to do that.”

Martin was embarrassed but could not do anything but to accept the gesture. Batista regained his posture and started to inform Martin.

“I know your circumstances and I am officially canceling that shameless fatso’s decree but I hope you continue to work for me in the future. The city needs more men like you, I can transfer you from the military to the city guard should you choose to.”

Martin was delighted and grinned.

“Thank you, captain, I’ll think about it.”

“That’s nothing compared to what you’ve done. As much as I would like to transport you back to the city, I am shorthanded right now and cannot spare any personnel to escort you. You probably have to spend more time here before you can travel. I know it's supposed to be your break but my hands are really tied right now. This is supposed to be confidential but out of consideration, I will tell you.”

Batista spoke with a serious face.

“The border clashes have been escalating and casualties have risen. The enemy has been relentless and it will take time before reinforcements will come that is why the city is quite in a peril. There may be a chance that the fight will be moved back towards the city that is why I already informed my family back home to evacuate just in case.”

Batista also knew that his enemy is extremely shameless and might even take people as hostages especially people close to him.

“They have already moved out together with the city lord, I planned to inform you about it but you were unconscious so I had to wait. If you want to inform your relatives to evacuate, you can tell me and I’ll send a messenger. I must advise you that evacuation is not necessarily safe, bandits may attack them so they have to move with other people. You make your decision if you want your relatives to stay or want them to evacuate.”

Martin was in a dilemma when he heard the captain, he was deeply worried about Eznho and Miss Minchin.

Wait, how is Eznho?

He suddenly got worried and blurted out a question without thinking.

“Captain, did little Ez made it back alive?”

“Little Ez?”

Batista was confused but remembered something.

“You mean the boy that was sent to the mines? He was already pardoned by my subordinate and I was informed he already went back to the city and even made a big contribution.”

Martin felt relieved but still could not decide what to do. If Miss Minchin and Eznho stayed and the fight will involve the city, they may be exposed to danger but at the same time, if they evacuate, there were bandits that they have to watch out for. He was frowning and made up his mind.

“Captain, can I send a letter to them?”

“Sure, that’s no big deal I’ll get a pen and paper.”

Martin felt awkward when the captain became his writer on his stead.

.....

Blackstone city.

Floyd was standing in the same hall like the previous time to state his report.

“Sir, my subordinates found the captains and they confirmed that the core was already missing when they found the golden serpent. Also, Batista’s family at Sin City already evacuated.”

The man sitting in front suddenly opened his eyes that were like a burning lava, bright and blazing hot.

“Hmph, so what’s the point of me being here then? Are you ready to accept your punishment?”

The temperature started to rise and despite his cultivation being the element of ice, Floyd started to sweat.

“I still have a backup plan sir, just support me when the time comes and I assure you, you will get something out of it. But I still need to wait for Wilky to come back for the plan to work. According to the reports, he is already near their headquarters.”

Floyd still tried to hold on to hope.

“Fine, I’ll wait but this is the last straw. Nobody can save you if you fuck this up. Just inform me when the time comes and stop disturbing me if you have nothing important to report. Dismissed.”

“Sir!”

Floyd saluted and departed. A subordinate was waiting for him outside.

“Contact Hanya and tell him I have a job for him.”

“Yes, sir,”

His subordinate saluted and immediately went on his way.

Floyd was left standing with a sinister smile.

“I have another surprise for you, my dear friend Batista,”