Jun Ye Shing

The continent's inland capital was warmer and more humid than the temperate coastal cities like Moon, my hair sticking to my forehead nearly immediately. I quickly rolled up my sleeves in a vain attempt to stay cool. I've gotten so used to that damn cold palace that this feels like a sauna!

"I know it's uncomfortable, Ye Shing, but bear with it for a little bit longer," Prince said in the private group chat to avoid drawing attention to us. He was garbed in an identical cloak to Feng Wen and myself, which I couldn't help but feel was more a harm than a help for being discreet. "Thankfully, it's a close walk to the castle from here."

"I still don't quite follow the logic of why Ye Shing has to wear a cloak too." Feng Wen remarked, his body now materializing beside me at the warp point. "Would it not be a good thing to show we captured 'Lei Qiang'?"

Ice Phoenix was the first to answer. "While Lei Qiang may have abandoned Life 2.0 after he acquired the Jun family, we have to assume he may still have ears within the game." With all four of us now present at the warp point, Ice Phoenix gestured for us to follow her. "Unfortunately, that may also mean that he could eventually catch wind of what happened in Moon City, so we need to act quickly before he learns that Ye Shing has made contact with us."

Feng Wen's tone matched his sullen gait, "Oh. Right..."

"What's done is done." Prince reassured him before promptly turning to me, "Our next move now is to learn where Ye Shing and his mother are being held, and the current role Hong Peng has with Lei Qiang."

"Uh." My heart fluttered nervously under Prince's intense gaze. "Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be as much help as you hoped I'd be..." I confessed. I quickly tried to recall anything from that night two months ago that could be helpful, but I was met with fuzzy images, "Everything happened so fast back then. I had already been injected with some drug by the time I woke up to realize someone was in the room. After that, I remember waking up blindfolded, where some of Father's guys were waiting with these old-fashioned clothes that he's been making us wear."

"Lei Qiang was always one for theatrics," Prince said blandly. With the looming figure of Infinite City now only half a kilometer away, Ice Phoenix steadily increased the group's pace. It was not just the pressure of time driving us forward; the small number of bystanders seemed to grow with each step, curious of the three cloaked figures following a well-known member of Prince's entourage.

Feng Wen let out a soft hum, "Now that you mention it, I do recall Hong Peng saying something about one of the rooms in the villa being 'better looking' than others."

The gathering that surrounded us had swelled to a small crowd by the time we were a few meters from the front of the Infinite Castle's gates. The majority didn't even bother to be subtle in their gawking. Prince and Feng Wen lowered their heads, which I quickly copied. "Wait 'til you see the palace where we're at..."

Prince jerked his head back in surprise, "A palace!?"

"Hey, that sounds like Prince!" Someone shouted from the crowd, creating a tsunami of voices crashing around us.

"Shit. Run!" Prince commanded, lurching forward towards the gates. The rest of us bolted after him as the guards swung the gates open at the sight of their Overlord. Prince dove through the gates, ungracefully tumbling onto the brick pathway in the castle courtyard. Feng Wen's lunge had a tad more dignity, but he still ended up sprawled out on the ground next to his mother. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

The gates behind us slammed closed as the last foot crossed the threshold, followed by a woman's voice, "Mirage Barrier!" A swirling gale erupted near the gate, wrapping around the iron bars and adjacent walls like tendrils. Whatever magic it was, it took an opaque form, latticing up over the walls in seconds to form a small dome over the courtyard.

At the sight of the dome, Prince let out a loud sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jing."

"Jing-āyí!" Feng Wen cried happily, throwing off the cloak as he scrambled to his feet.

A faint outline of a woman shifted against the stone walls, the figure drawing closer to our group of four. With every step, the hazy image of a blonde-haired exorcist became clearer, whose warmth was reminiscent of Mom. She greeted her Overlord and Champion with a mischievous smile, "Lanny if you're not more careful, Feng Wen is going to follow in your footsteps of constantly getting in trouble!"

Prince pulled back his hood to match her amused grin. "I think we both know he's already well past that point."

Feng Wen tentatively hugged Jing. "I haven't seen you since the battle here, Jing-āyí. What have you been up to?"

"Your mom has had me and Yun stationed in the East Continent as ears for any movement involving Huang Wei," she replied. "Though I guess we are calling him Lei Qiang now, right?"

Prince nodded as he stood up, "Yes. As you know, we have brought his youngest son here." Prince gestured to me to remove my cloak. "You're safe to remove that now, Ye Shing. Are Gui and Lolidragon on their way?"

"Yes, they are finishing securing their trace on the boy's IP." Jing's eyes flickered over to me before settling on the ground, "You weren't kidding, he's a near spitting image of the guy..."

Prince laid a hand on her shoulder, "Only physically, Jing. I assure you, he's nothing like his father."

I guess she's met Father before—

System Notice: Attention, there has been an outside disturbance.

"That... That can't be possible..." I wheezed.

Dr. Min and Lolidragon had arrived at that moment, their relieved expressions quickly joining nearby ones of concern. Their mouths moved, but the panic ringing in my eyes muted their voices. Feng Wen, who was the closest to me, roughly shook my shoulder, "Ye Shing, what are you talking about?"

"Someone's in my room."

...

Min Feng Wen

Ye Shing's chilling words before abruptly logging off haunted me well after waking up. I stared up at the ceiling above my bed that morning with a familiar dread; unpleasant memories of my kidnapping and the confusing emotions that followed washing over me. It feels like it happened ages ago, but it hasn't even been close to a year yet... I flipped my head towards the wall with my calendar, confirming it was still the middle of February. I should have been spending the past six months worrying about arbitrary things like my grades or my love life. Instead, it's been fearing for my family's safety and...

I pushed the intrusive thoughts aside and got out of bed. This isn't the time for that. There are more pressing matters to attend to.

With a quick change of clothes, I headed towards a kitchen filled with clinking dishes and rustling paper. The usual scene of Mom setting breakfast on the table was marred by books, notepads, and laptops cluttering the surface. I scooted some old 20th-century tomes aside to sit down across from the small mound of textbooks that lay center of the table. "Have you found anything yet, Dad?"

Dad quickly peered over the books and greeted me with a tired smile, "Good morning, my son! Unfortunately, I believe we are having to start from scratch in our search."

"That's implying that we had a start to begin with, Dad." I replied, my dry tone quickly cured by my mother's stern look, "Ahem. So what exactly are you looking for?"

Dad grabbed a nearby book and flipped it open, "A motive."

I picked up my spoon for a bite of my congee, "A'motifee?" Mom's glare had me quickly swallow, "Isn't a bunch of money and power enough motive for a syndicate leader?"

Dad smiled with amusement, "For most, yes. But Tiāntáng Lóng is not like most syndicates." He gingerly put the fragile book aside and grabbed another bound in cracked leather, "Tiāntáng Lóng did not start as a crime syndicate, but a fringe group of imperial sympathizers called the Royalist Party in the early 20th century."

Imperial sympathizers... "How does a political party turn into a crime syndicate?"

"The Royalist Party was much more than just a monarchist party," Dad replied. "They refused to acknowledge the new republic's authority, participating in multiple insurgencies and attempted coups. As it became more obvious that reinstating the throne was futile, the party started to fracture." He gently flipped through more pages of the aged book. "While the political movement of the Royalist Party swiftly faded away, the most zealous followers of the imperial family simply shifted to organized crime as a means to reobtain power."

I stared down at my bowl and frowned. My congee doesn't have hot chili oil on it. "So does that mean Tiāntáng Lóng leaders are descended from the same crazy Qing cult?" I asked as I inspected another spoonful of congee.

"Who knows?" Mom chimed in, now taking a seat at the table. "We have only ever known bits and pieces about Tiāntáng Lóng's operations, with nearly all the information coming from Arctic Fox. Hell, we've learned more about them in the past six months than in the past ten years." She unpinned her hair, which barely went past her jaw now. "Personally, I don't give a damn because I'm gonna send Lei Qiang straight to his ancestors either way!" she growled.

Dad's attention quickly turned to Mom, greeting her with his signature goofy grin, "I have full confidence in His Highness." I rolled my eyes. It's amazing how his demeanor changes in Mom's presence. Then it hit me.

They called Hong Peng that too.