Chapter 252: Maintaining appearances
“I’m sorry…what?,” Zhen Yue asked incredulously. She knew that Zhen Liu was a bit of…an anomaly as of late, but being able to bestow abilities and reverse aging? That was ridiculous!
“I know it sounds absolutely absurd,” Zhen Hai agreed, “but remember when Zhen Liu mentioned he could use his ‘puppets’ to make use of aether arts?”
“Yes…”
“You don’t think it’s at all possible that he could…I don’t know…insert those puppets into other people? He does have a puppet that can use ice and one that uses lighting,” Zhen Hai defended his point, “maybe he…somehow inserted them into me and grandfather?”
Zhen Yue was all set to just call her cousin ridiculous…but then she remembered a weird little detail about the night she fought alongside Zhen Liu’s…”puppets”.
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After she had defeated Sieger in a rather violent manner, she had managed to locate the battleground where Zhen Liu’s puppet was engaged with Gregory Wolfe.
She was all set to intervene and assist, especially since that Gregory was about to use a very big move to try and crush the puppet.
But then, she heard it talk.
Not in Zhen Liu’s voice, but in a distinctly grinding, growling voice that sounded almost feminine.
She couldn’t hear everything unfortunately, she didn’t have the aether at this point to enhance her hearing, but she did hear the puppet call herself a “monster bitch”.
It seemed like a semi-self deprecating way to refer to oneself…but then again…maybe the monster bit wasn’t hyperbole.
But then, when she went to “arrive just after the battle”, the puppet had suddenly started talking like Zhen Liu again.
Zhen Yue then filed the voice she was hearing as possibly dramatic performance on her cousin’s part…but with the details shared by Zhen Hai and what happened with their grandfather…well…doubts began to form.
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Regardless of the truth though, Zhen Yue let out a sigh before responding to her cousin.
“Alright…say Zhen Liu actually has this ability you describe. There must be a reason why he’s keeping it secret then, right?,” Zhen Yue pointed out, “He did almost get assassinated before he he could do whatever it is you’re suggesting.”
“I mean…yeah…”
“And if, again, he has this ability you mention,” Zhen Yue reiterated, “it hasn’t brought any harm to anybody…except for the people who tried to kill us…so I believe we can just leave it be. Right?”
“…yeah… you’re right,” Zhen Hai reluctantly nodded. A part of him just wanted to know why, but if his blood wanted to keep it secret…so be it.
Having come to a consensus, Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai made their way into the post office to finally deliver the former’s letter.
“Ah! Mistress Zhen Yue, Master Zhen Hai! You both are looking well, to what do we owe the pleasure of the Zhen Clan coming to bless this humble office?”
“I’m here to deliver a letter.”
“Same day express?”
“Of course.”
“Capital!”
With practiced ease, the post master running the place took out a large monal bird from a specially designed cage and placed Zhen Yue’s letter in a special tube that was strapped to it’s back.
Once everything was ready, the post master let out a loud whistle and threw the bird into the air, where it caught the wind and took flight.
“There we go ma’am, the letter should be Bronze Bell before supper.”
“Thank you,” Zhen Yue curtisied before moving to take her leave, however, she was interrupted by the post master.
“Ah! A moment before you two go” he interjected before grabbing a pair of letters from a cubby hole behind him.
“I was about to send a runner to go and deliver these to the clan estate, but since you two are here in person…I believe this is something only family members should handle,” the post master explained.
Curious about the letters, Zhen Yue and Zhen Hai took the two letters in hand and looked them over, without opening them of course.
They couldn’t help but notice that both letters smelled like distinctive perfumes, and when they saw who the letters were for, as well as where they were coming from, looks of bemusement formed on their faces.
“Well then…I didn’t expect him to be such a flirt.”
“I think I remember hearing the uncles talk about this before…I figured there would be some staggering involved…do we know where he is?”
“I believe he is in that abandoned quarry that’s a little away from the main house. Not going to lie…I want to see his face when he gets these letters.”
“Same.”
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Meanwhile, back at the aforementioned quarry…
Not a soul could be found wandering the rocky terrain and not a sound could be heard, save for the howling of wind blowing through it.
It was…tranquil in a desolate way…like one could get lost in the nothingness…
Punt!
“Bah!”
Bump!
“Oof!”
“Xiao Liu!”
But that tranquility was soon shattered when a portion of the ground at the bottom of the quarry suddenly flipped over like a revolving door and ejected Zhen Liu like a kick ball being lightly punted. Meanwhile, his companion Jin Fang had managed to maintain a stable foothold and not get launched, thanks in part to her new aether tool, the Pegasus Dragon Wing Girdle.
A little after the revelation that the two of them needed to visit a tomb in Roaring Tide, Jin Fang was given the chance to make use of the unexpected treasures in her pocket…alongside some of the recently acquired materials of Zhen Liu’s ownership.
“Remind me to never use the ground as a doorway again,” Zhen Liu grumbled as he laid on the ground. He didn’t feel any pain from the sudden ejection, but it still rattled his skull.
“Mind helping me up?”
“Oh…of course!,” Jin Fang said with a only a moment of hesitation and a mildly devious thought in her head.
Jin Fang quickly made her way over to Zhen Liu and helped him to his feet…only to pull a little too hard by “accident” and send Zhen Liu tumbling on top of her…sorta.
He managed to catch himself in time, but it was a rather compromising position to be caught in, what with him accidentally kabedonning.
“Whoopsies, used too much strength,” Jin Fang apologized half-heartedly, while mentally thanking the heavens she remembered to wear that special perfume again.
‘Huh…is it just me…or does her lips look really inviting right now…’
(Un)fortunately, Zhen Liu didn’t really hear this…as he was a bit caught up with the mood of the moment and the idea of kissing the troublemaker beneath him…and maybe a little more…
“Zhen Liu? You here?”
Unfortunately for them, someone was calling for him.
‘Gods dammit.’
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[Godsdammit!]
=Y’all are nasty.=
[Per…verts.]
