Chapter 9 - Tian Yan

When Aiden was fifteen years old, his maternal grandfather died. His mother had been devastated and for a few weeks Aiden had stepped up and helped out around the house. When his mother got back to her normal cheerful self everything seemed fine, except a melancholic look on her face that sometimes came upon her when her father was mentioned.

At that point, Aiden thought everything was back to normal but a week later he helped put some boxes in the garage when he came across his fishing rod. Just for a moment, he thought it would be fun to go up to the lake to fish with his grandpa.

That is when the tears came.

Remembering all the times he and his grandpa went fishing and how that would never happen again made it click in his mind that his grandpa truly was gone.

*Crack*

That was the moment Aiden knew Du Jun was gone.

Experiencing someone close to you dying is different from seeing them brutally murdered on stage right in front of you.

Aiden somehow ended up on stage but if someone asks he could not say how.

Everyone had left an indeterminable time later and the sun was low in the sky.

From someplace he did not know he had inside him he pulled strength and started to pull the body back towards their courtyard.

Some servants found him when he reached a more populated part of the palace. It was dark at that point but they swiftly carried the body to the Duckweed courtyard after they realized the sweaty, dirty boy that was pulling the corpse of his best friend was the 42nd prince of the Tian Dynasty.

-

Aiden is not sure when he stopped crying but it was probably sometime way earlier today during his vigil on stage.

The servants had put the body down on one of the beds in Tian Yan’s room and then left with polite bows.

Empty of all emotions, Aiden just sits there, staring on the floor in front of the bed. Going through the sequence of events that occurred today more times than he can be bothered to count he has come to a few conclusions. The first and major one is painfully clear.

“It is my fault he is dead.”

The statement is the first thing Aiden has said in hours and his voice is hoarse.

It was because Aiden had told him to fight for him that Du Jun was on stage. Aiden understands Tian Feng and Xiao Long had been scheming to attack him in some way.

It is obvious in retrospect that Jun Ying and the others were afraid of Tian Feng and him introducing Aiden to them seems like a message. He is not even sure the message was meant for him.

That is the worst part, it had all just been a scheme and Du Jun was not even the real target. Just collateral damage. Conveniently served up by Aiden.

“It is my fault he is dead.”

He had fooled himself into thinking he could play this game of court but the first opponent he met had swayed him with a hug and a promise of a cool technique to make his robes flow.

Sitting in front of the body of his best friend makes all his scheming feel useless. Whom was he kidding, it is useless. The misguided attempts at scheming he had performed could barely even be called that, he had just lied to keep people who support him around.

After his Soul Awakening Ritual, it should have been clear to him that he can not compare to any of his brothers. Not telling his best friend that his ritual was a failure was not because he did not trust him to keep it quiet. No, the smart thing for Du Jun to do would have been to run away from the lost cause that is Aiden. That is why he did not tell him.

“It is my fault he is dead.”

Tears start streaming down his face.

Du Jun had died because he thought they still had a chance of achieving their dream of ruling the Heavenly Court one day.

Well if Du Jun died for their dream it was only right for Aiden to do the same. No more ”Don’t be around when daddy goes to heaven” plan. It might be suicidal but either he dies or he becomes the next ruler of this world. And if he has to kill Tian Feng and Xiao Long along the way all the better.

Not crying any longer, Aiden looks up at the face of his dead friend and makes a vow.

Having made a decision, Aiden looks over the body for the first time with a semblance of sanity seeing what was done to it. The crushed knee stands out the most but it is visible where Xiao Long punched the stomach even with the red shirt still on. Looking over the area around the neck there are some markings but not much blood has gathered in the area, Du Jun probably died pretty fast.

Definitely going to kill Tian Feng and Xiao Long.

Noticing a red bump in the shirt below the neck area he can not stop his curiosity. It looks like something is trying to push out of Du Jun’s heart but is restricted by the shirt.

Pushing the red shirt aside a red flower springs free, stretching out to its full height.

Recognizing it, Aiden just stares at the flower. It is the Scorching Star Orchid he and Du Jun found a few years ago. The two boys had both wanted the spiritual flower but decided to settle it with rock, paper, scissors. Du Jun had won and eaten the flower but when the emperor arrived Tian Yan had said he did since he thought the chance of him being punished severely was less. He was probably right but it had still sucked.

Staring at the flower that Aiden assumes is part of the reason Du Jun had been doing so great since starting to cultivate he only hesitates for a moment. Reaching out he picks the flower.

The Scorching Star Orchid is noticeably smaller than when they first found it. Du Jun must have absorbed more than half of the flower's potency over the years.

Not seeing a point in waiting, Aiden swallows the flower right away. Du Jun ate it while younger so how dangerous could it be?

Done with robbing the dead, Aiden just sits there.

-

It is not until early morning some of the house servants notice mud in the entré leading to the east wing.

Aiden is still sitting in front of Du Jun when his mother enters the room. She sits down next to him and engulfs him in a hug without saying a word.

Tears roll down his cheek, Aiden does not know how he can have any left at this point.

“They killed him” Aiden manages to mumble in between the sobs.

“Little Yan, I am so sorry.” She says and hugs him tighter.

They just sit there for a while and Aiden feels some of the tension leaves him together with the tears.

“Let us go to my office, you can tell me what happened.” His mother says and Aiden just nods.

His mother guides him away from the room and Aiden notices the servants entering the room after they leave, “to take away the body” he thinks to himself.

They arrive in the West wing without Aiden putting much conscious thought into the process, sitting down on the sofa he starts to feel the emptiness again.

“So tell me what happened yesterday.” His mother orders him.

Aiden recounts the events without much emotion, his mother just sits there and listens. It is not until he gets to the part where he concluded that it is all his fault that she interjects.

“Little Yan, it is not your fault. There are harsh lessons for you to learn from this but how could you have known? Even with the memories from the ritual you are still young and have to learn from your own experiences.”

Feeling a stab in his chest, Aiden can not help but remember it is not only Du Jun that he misled about the efficacy of his ritual. So maybe there is a risk she will think he possessed her kid but without any support, he will die anyway so he has to be willing to take risks at this point.

“I need to tell you something, I am not your son.” Aiden says.

His mother looks confused but before she can say anything, Aiden starts explaining everything since the day of the Soul Awakening Ritual. He explains he has the full memories of Aiden, his plan to randomly stumble on a cultivation technique to cover up his lack of cultivation memories and he even admits he just received the Scorching Star Orchid this morning.

After Aiden is done his mother just stares at him.

“You stupid child!” His mother absentmindedly mutters.

Aiden stays quiet, even if he thinks his mother is harsh. He had very few options and everything he ever read pointed at the inevitable of him finding something good in the library if he just randomly stumbled about.

“You are not this Aiden person. The Soul Awakening Ritual brings back memories of previous lives. Aiden is just one of your previous lives and maybe he is your only previous life. It might explain the weird result from your ritual but I do not know.”

Aiden is a little confused, he already knows all that except the last part. Maybe he did not explain it to his mother properly. He opens his mouth to clarify when she cuts him off. “You are Tian Yan, you are my son. Just because you can remember being someone else does not make you that person, it was probably easier for you to pretend to be this person from another world rather than accept your situation.”

Aiden just stares at her. Okej, this might not be a shock to him but he is having trouble thinking of it in those terms.

If he is Aiden, he is a young man who was reincarnated to another world, something extraordinary happened to him. On the other hand, if he is Tian Yan, he is a failure. The one prince of the Tian Dynasty with only a useless previous life.

But being Aiden will not help him in this world. Aiden does not belong here and pretending otherwise has already led to the death of his best friend.

Taking a deep breath, Aiden… No, Tian Yan looks at his mother again.

She looks him in the eyes for a moment before she nods and says. “Good, now that the silliness is over we can get to solving the real issues. Do you still intend to pursue the throne?”

Not surprised by the question since he recently had been struggling with it.

“Yes,” Tian Yan answers.

“Okej, then you will have to work hard. Right now you are not a match to any of your brothers, I can find instructors for you in combat and politics. Do you still have the incense?

“Yes, I did not use any of it since I did not eat the Scorching Star Orchid.” Tian Yan says.

“Start as soon as possible. The effect will be better right after eating the flower.” His mother says and then she pauses.

For a moment his mother seems to be contemplating something and Tian Yan just waits. She turns around and walks over to a cabinet.

“I was not planning to give this to you until you were older but with the circumstances being what they are I will leave it in your care. I found this in an ancient ruin when I was young and have not found much use for it but it is a very profound cultivation technique.” His mother says.

She holds out a piece of jade in front of Tian Yan.

“Do not use this until you are ready.” She says and gives him the piece of jade.

Tian Yan’s eyes are sparkling. A Jade slip! The vast majority of all techniques in the Tian Dynasty's ownership are written on scrolls or in books. Only a very few that came down from the higher worlds are written on jade slips.

This could be it, this could be his chance to rise to the level of his brothers.

Carefully putting the jade slip away to look at later Tian Yan is about to bow in thanks to his mother when she hugs him again.

They just stay like that for a while until Cui Zhong comes by and informs them that his room is empty and that they have arranged for a funeral in the evening.

-

Back in the room, Aiden lies down on his bed. He is exhausted from staying up all night but he has to do one last thing before he sleeps.

Pulling out the Jade slip he puts it against his head and inserts a small trickle of Qi into it. After doing a fast scan he has learned the basics of the technique and its name.

Purifying Flames Union

How can his mother give him a dual cultivation technique? He is only seven years old and if it was not for Aiden's memories Tian Yan would not even know about intercourse. He silently laments as he realizes that there are still hard times ahead.