40 Preparations

Birds chirped as the world was greeted with a picturesque scene of sun rays lashing out from the east. The many trees off in the distance rocked and bowed gently as the morning breeze sung a calming lullaby. Hartley had a contented smile as he sat cross legged in the front yard.. Zhi Ruo had been in a great mood last night. They had romped through the night barely getting a wink of sleep.

He was now searching throughhis space ring and examining the spoils of war, The coins from the cloaked man were enormous he hadn't even tallied up the numbers yet, but this was sure to be in the tens of thousands.

Zhi Ruo came over and lovingly hugged him around his neck from behind, he opened his eyes, which were closed and distracted by the contents of the space ring.

"Ruo" he said in a serious voice with his back facing her, after a few seconds elapsed he continued "I don't want to spend my life in the Waltham province." he then unclasped her hands from around his neck turned around and looked her in her eyes from his seated position. "I am going make my mark on the world, and I want to do it with you by my side, you are my woman now and I will be yours forever. I want you to come with me." Hartley then retrieved a package from his space ring and handed it over to her..

Zhi Ruo received the package looking at him with a slight blush, she opened it and looked at the item for a short moment, it was a long elegant slim fitting blue dress made from the finest materials, Hartley had picked it up on his travels through the Cosmos regions. When they had camped out at nights, they would return and spend the days in the make-shift town. Hartley was having a look around the town and this dress in a storefront had caught his eye. The moment he laid eyes on the dress it brought his mind to Ruo "Its to replace your green dress that I ruined, that was the first promise I made to you" he said with a wry smile.

Ruo delicately stroked her hand down the dress, her breathing went ragged and shelooked at him with teary eyes, she didn't care too much about the dress, it was a minor issue in her eyes. It was the promise he had made her the very first night she had laid with a man. "Of course I will follow" she said, her voice cracking with emotions, as she lost control and a single tear rolled down her left cheek, just like that first unforgettable night she had spent with him.

Hartley reached out and wiped the tear away with his index finger saying nervously "Ruo don't cry, I know one is not enough but I swear i will get you more, this was the only one they had that I thought you would like."Zhi Ruo rolled her eyes and playfully hit him on the chest saying "idiot, it's more than enough" she then placed her head in chest and they embraced closely, time seem to have have stopped in that moment as the morning breeze continued to singits perfect lullaby.

................A month flew by quickly...........

And Hartley's preparation was going smoothly, he had returned to the Lou clan once in this time, he had seen Qin Li and bid him farewell in a subtle way but he didn't talk of his planned departure outright. The merchants had also come looking for him on several occasions. They had the luck of randomly running into him on that day. They showered him in praises and handed him a space ring full of riches in appreciation.

Hartley had now quietly amassed a massive amount of wealth, truth be told he didn't save the merchants because of his righteousness. He had saved them from pure curiosity but he wouldn't say that out loud, he shamelessly accepted their rewards in a most humble manner.

The days after, there was a stir about the Fu clan from the Calabar province. The Baron's investigation had led to the identification of the dark cloaked man. He was Fu Xiao, an elder in the clan. The Fu clan was a mid sized clan from the neighboring province of Calabar. The Baron had quickly mobilized his troops and headed towards the Calabar province backed by delegates of the Royal family stationed there. It was rumored that a suspected dark arts practitioner had escapedalong with an elder, the rest of the elders were put to death and the clan disbanded.

The people that escaped were none other than the scar face man who had battled with Hartley on the main road and his master. His master was practicing the dark arts in secret along with his disciple Fu Xiao, the Fu clan at large had no idea of these happenings, when the scar faced man had failed in his mission to suppress the evidence and kill the witnesses. They had fled beforehand leaving the innocent unknowing members of the clan to face the harsh punishment in their stead. The Fu clan elders had been put to death still trying to figure out what the Baron was talking about but there was no explanations that could change their fate.

Hartley in these daysstayed hard at work cultivating and preparing for his departure from the Waltham province, he found out however that just upping and moving was more complicated than he had thought at first..Zhi Ruo had been selling the remaining items he had given her before he left for his mission. She also had to sell her wares in the armor shop and trying to find a buyer to take over the business. Hartley was going to travel by carriage and was looking to hire a driver for the long journey. He was going to wander across the lands and hone his skill on his way to the capital. He wasn't in a rush to get there, he had mapped out the scenic route for him and Zhi Ruo to enjoy, he wasn't planning on rushing there and becoming a lackey, by the time he got there he wanted to be on par with strongest there or even stronger. Strength was the key, there were bound to be opportunities for him to put himself on the map, he just had to be strong enough.

The Patriarch of the Lou clan was sitting on a prayer mat in his old hut on top of the mid sized mountain he stationed himself, another elder was present sat at the table in the middle of the room, "What should we do now?" asked the man, The man was Lou Shuan, Hartley's uncle. He too had seen the strength of the people from the Time Keepers sect. He was so scared after witnessing the ease with which those people could slaughter even the most talented and powerful people of the Aldora continent, an unimaginable fear had blossomed in his heart.

He was now nervous that if Hartley were to reach those levels...sweat dripped down his back.. "Let him go" the Patriarch answered in a feeble voice, he sighed for a long while. He now regretted banishing the boy, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his brother's grandchild. Maybe in the coming months and years he could win back the boy's trust with the information he possessed about the boy's heritage.

"He is with that girl, I don't even think she knows why her father fled the capital" the Patriarch mused as his eyes glassed over in deep thought.

"Nudge Qin Li towards him, he is the only person from the clan the boy seems to truly have a rapportwith, if he is willing let Qin Li follow him on his journey, they both have similar backgrounds but Qin Li is loyal to the clan, maybe he can be an influence on the boy in the future."

The patriarch then closed his eyes in meditation.. Lou Shuan took this as his cue to leave and left.