"You'll never find another pill like this."

Feiyun proudly claimed while placing the bottle containing a single crystal pill into Tianhuo's hand.

Tianhuo raised an eyebrow, focused on the small pill Infront of him. He had seen all sorts of pills, ones so rare that people would kill one another for it. Most rare pills had distinct swirls and markings on it to identify it as a premium grade pill.

Yet he had never come across such a crystal clear pill with smooth surface that glimmered with a faint luster of blue.

"This..."

Tianhuo's voice trailed off as his interest grew.

"I took the Lanjing Lotus poison that you excreted and manage to salvage it. I manage to concoct only 2 pills, this one here is for you to use however you like."

Feiyun replied brushing a finger on the tip of her nose, seeing how stunned Tianhuo was, she felt even more happy.

The Lanjing lotus was no longer in existence yet she was able to procure a pill, although it was just one single pill, it was still priceless.

Tianhuo was pretty surprised at her knowledge and skills. With a defeated laugh, he teased,

"Is there anything my Wangfei can't do?"

Feiyun blushed at his hearty chuckle. such a melodious voice, deep like the ocean yet gentle like the water in a stream. His usually cold demeanor suddenly flashing a childish yet handsome countenance.

Tianhuo caught her red ears and pulled her into an embrace, his deep blue eyes staring into her clear bottomless eyes. Sending a rush of blood to feiyun's cheeks.

A sense of desire slowly kicked in as he grabbed her neck and slowly pulled her in, kissing her deeply, sucking onto her bottom lips as he brushed the tip of his tongue against hers.

Just as Feiyun lightly moaned, a knocked came on the door startling Feiyun into pulling apart awkwardly and tiding her ruffled clothes that Tianhuo's fingers had fondled around with. Feiyun returned to the seat beside him and took a cup to her mouth, trying to hide her blush.

"Come in."

Tianhuo's voice was seemingly stern, a sense of annoyance mixed in between, his brows furrowed together while his eyes held a sense of impatience.

'how come all these shadow guards have perfect timing? Tsk'

This was the first time Feiyun heard Tianhuo click his tongue she covered her mouth and giggled.

"This shadows greets Wangfei and Wangye."

An greeted as both girls knelt on one knee with their right arm across their chest in salute, their heads both looking on the ground.

The fact that they greeted feiyun first instead of Tianhuo already showed who their loyalty belongs to.

Seeing the two girls who she had put under intensive training with Qinfei, a small smirk plastered on her lips.

"An, Xu..."

Feiyun called their name in a commanding tone.

"This shadow is here."

The two girls replied in unison, ready for feiyun's command.

"Kill."

Feiyun's slender finger pointed towards Tianhuo who was silently sipping his tea, her cold command ringing out in the silent hall.

Surprised by the order, An and Xu felt a weight press on their hearts after all Tianhuo was their saviour but they still acted without hesitation, pushing their guilt to the back of their heads.

As quick as lightning and swift as the wind, both shadow danced forward silently on the wooden floor. Not a single footstep could be heard. As though they were truly shadows with no weight this was the fruits of their training.

An had swiftly unsheathed her katana while Xu had drawn out her two moon wheel blades attacking in a symphony of strikes.

Of course the one who received their attacks was Ruyi who jumped in from the shadows, combating both An and Xu with his dual blades.

While Tianhuo who was still calmly sipping his tea remained laid-back on his chair.

Ruyi glancing back to Tianhuo from the side of his eye, did not know what was going on. There was no time to ask, did his good friend's wife just asked her shadows to murder him?

'How come he is still so calmly sipping tea beside her?'

As his thoughts drifted, he found that to his surprised he was being taken back by their simultaneous attacks. Their strengths had increased this much just in such a short time.

In the past he could still recite scriptures in his head while fighting both of them with only one sword. yet right now, he couldn't even afford to lose a moment of concentration. Their attacks were serious and each strike going for the kill.

Between the piercing sound of sharp blades cutting the air and sparks from the metals clashing into one another, Feiyun and Tianhuo watched the whole rumble silently. Neither one questioning each other's actions.

After a series of blows just when Ruyi was about to hit his back to the wall from being pushed back, Feiyun chuckled, satisfied she called them to withdraw. Truly proud of the results, she remained silent a jade finger holding her chin.

Although they did fine, there was still room for improvement, while deep in her thoughts of how to better improve them from this point on.

Watching Feiyun and Tianhuo in silence. Ruyi who at this point was still very confused about what was going on while An and Xu had returned to their knees on the ground they had many questions in their hearts.

Tianhuo on the other hand had already understood what Feiyun was doing. She wanted to test their loyalty and this was truly the best way.

Someone who had saved them before, to make them attack their benefactor, truly a devil. But that's what it takes to become a shadow. Letting emotions control you would only kill yourself or your master in battle.

What caught Tianhuo's eyes were also the fact that unlike before, their weapons were now fully coated black, not a single gleaming or reflective surface. This was also a small trick to enhance the stealth of a shadow assassin. A small reflection in the darkness of night could easily reveal one's position and action.

Tianhuo could only nod his head in approval of the intelligence of Feiyun and her harsh way she trained her shadows. Today he had also learnt this little trick from her.

Feiyun was brought back out of her thoughts when Tianhuo chuckled slightly and rubbed her head dotingly.

"Ah... sorry for the surprised." Feiyun laughed softly and looked to Ruyi while apologising to him, who obviously looked very lost.

"Ruyi, better buck up, in such a short time they have grown this much. In another month or so they would probably have broken through to silver rank. " Feiyun teased, Ruyi's usual fox like face froze for a split second before he scratched his head a chuckled a little.

He was reluctant to let this little girl tease him, silently vowing to himself that he would train harder. As much as he liked the two little girls like sisters, as their older senior, how could he lose to them, truly leaving him no other choice but to train so he doesn't lose face.

Yet he didn't know that feiyun had said it so that he would feel the pressure to improve all for the sake of ensuring Tianhuo had nothing but the best. Of course her shadows were all under her but she also commanded that they must protect the people in this manor like their own.

Tianhuo only smiled while rubbing Feiyun's head like a child. Truly he did not chose his Wangfei wrongly. At such a young age, yet so crafty.

Feiyun called in a few more people. She wanted to introduce her entire team to Tianhuo, after all it is good that they know who each others shadow guards were to prevent any future misunderstanding.

Feiyun press two fingers in her lips and with a soft whistle, behind An and Xu, 3 other youths appeared,

On the far left, a young girl barely 12. She had a small frame and was slender. Her face was small and delicate yet the eyes were cold and soulless. She walked quietly as she approached. Her presence was truly like a shadow, if you didn't pay attention you would not have noticed her. Hidden behind the small of her back, a small dagger knife was firmly in place.

With a single look Ruyi could tell this little girl although looked innocent, was trained in assassination. He felt nothing but danger from the little girls eyes, sending a short zap of fear down his back.

Ruyi's eyes drifted to the other two, They were slightly older roughly 15, both held a sense of elegance, their aura could easily pass as a young daughter of a high ranking family yet their eyes were not like those young ladies full of sparkle. No, he knew those eyes, they were people who had seen the worse of the world.

The one in the middle of the 3 had braids down the side of her head, flowing back and then curling towards the left shoulder and tied simple. while a dark blueish feather promptly pinned above her ear in-between her hair. Her face bore a visible scar across her cheek over her nose and onto the other cheek horizontally, completely destroying her exquisite countenance. Had the scar not been there, Ruyi swore she would have been a beauty that could melt people's hearts. A black bow hung across her back with a quiver full of black arrows.

The remaining other girl was seemingly normal. She had no weapons aside from the whip at her side of the hip, she also carried 3 small pouches tied to her sash at her side. Only a strong scent of herbs and medicine came from her. Her face held a small smile, Ruyi couldn't help but feel there was more to her than just a simple smile.

"From the left, the youngest of my team, FeiSha, the one with the braids is FeiFeng, the one with the pouches, FeiDu."

Tianhuo raise an eyebrow. It was easy to see that these girls that Feiyun brought in were those who had suffered at the cruelty of the world. Each of these girls seems to be well versed in specific fields perhaps their name hinted at their profession.

Yet they were quite talented to be this way at their young age. In an instant he understood, Feiyun did not only know medicine, she was well versed in martial arts and training, truly a mysterious princess.

"Withdraw. Go back to training."

Feiyun waved a sleeve and the five girls disappeared into the shadows after saluting.

When everyone had withdrawn from the main hall, Feiyun turned and grabbed Tianhuo's hand, interlacing their fingers,

"Tianhuo, i want to create a intelligence network all across the country. The way we are right now we lack information. Knowledge is also power.*"

Tianhuo smiled gently, he knew that the main reason for this is because Feiyun was planning ahead, she wanted to find out why her mother had to live in such a way; revenge was what she sought and only when blood is paid will she stop.

"What do you need?"

Tianhuo caressed her cheek with one thumb, his eyes gentle and doting. Only she was able to see this side of Tianhuo.

"Hmm...i only need one of the shop on the mains Street of the capital."

Feiyun pondered for a moment before speaking her eyes full of childlike sparkle. It will take time to build the network but she was finally moving on her plans, unable to withhold her excitement.

Tianhuo chuckled as he drew her in and kissed her forehead, a magnificent smile on his face causing her heart to tremble in awe.

" All...I will give them all, as well as the ones in the other provinces and cities. Whether you would use all or just one is up to you."

Feiyun froze slightly, such a big matter and he didnt even bat and eye and gave her all the shops? She only needed one but he still gave her all of them. A defeated laugh burst out of her mouth, Feiyun realised just how much this man loved to spoil her.

Leaning into his embrace, she felt the vibrations of Tianhuos deep voice as he questioned,

" How will you go about building this network?"

Tianhuo had thoughts on expanding his network, there were some stuff he wanted to confirm as well. But now was not the time to reveal his doubts to Feiyun yet.

"A restaurant, with the best food, dancers and entertainers in the capital. This is the cover for our network. I will start gathering people to work in the shops, all of which should be loyal people to us and accepted under my shadow guards. Once this gains traction, i will start spreading the business to other parts of the country. "

Tianhuo nodded his head in agreement. Such a simple plan yet truly effective. Private rooms in famous restaurants were the rich and scheming people usually meet to discuss plans.

"Hmm.. Good! I can also give you a team of my shadow guards to start there. "

Tianhuo was truly invested in this idea, he held feiyun's chin as he spoke, his eyes completely serious yet a trace of flirtatious behavior remained.

Feiyun smiled like a little child and hugged Tianhuo's broad chest burying her face into him sighing deeply. Tianhuo surprised by her sudden action, asked if there was something wrong.

Feiyun only shook her head. Sometimes she wished time would stop so she didn't have to think about anything but themselves. This man had suddenly become a pillar she leaned on for support whereas in the past she herself was the biggest support she could find. Unwilling to trust anyone.

-----------------------------

Author's note:

the 3 other shadow additions were actually named

*Sha(kill/attack)

*Feng(wind)

*Du(poison)

After accepting them into the team, feiyun. Gave them full names. Same as An and Xu who from this point on will be known as FeiAn and FeiXu.

Alsoooooo not sure if any of you noticed my little tribute to Game of Thrones little finger's " knowledge is power * hehehe