Converging Fates

"Not you again! What is it that you want this time?!"

Hearing his old friend's exclamaition, an amused grin appeared on Jing Hai's face.

"Nothing at all! But you must have really missed me seeing as you were expecting my visit!", he laughed, bypassing the familiar, messy piles of shoes all around the store.

The elderly man behind the counter grumbled discontendly behind the counter but didn't say anything more. He knew that shrewd fox Jing Hai and didn't want to give him the chance or satisfaction of continuing his teasing. So, he just returned to reading his book, stubbornly ignoring Jing Hai.

This didn't stop the person in question from staying however.

Jing Hai took a few deep breaths.

The familiar smell of leather and shoe grease filled the air of the shoe store, which was at least better than the smell from the slum area outside.

This really wasn't a place where an lonely old man like his friend should stay.

But he just wouldn't leave.

Even after all his persuasion efforts over the years, that stubborn guy wouldn't agree to staying at their forge, not even temporarily.

But at the same time.

He couldn't really blame the other.

Grief was something that stuck with you until the end your whole life, not to mention 16 years.

And he would know, the sudden death of his beloved wive was over two decades ago but he still missed her dearly.

However, there was no need to atone 16 years for a sin that didn't even exist, anyone would agree on that.

Except for his friend who would rather suffer total isolation and guilt than stay with Jing Hai and his son.

If his daughter knew about this, she would have scolded her father for hours on end, Jing Hai was sure.

But maybe this was exactly the other's plan, provoking his daughter until she just couldn't bear it anymore and had to come back..

Jing Hai almost snorted in annoyance.

Stupid.

He had told this his friend countless times. Unfortunately, the other didn't care much about Jing Hai's opinion on this matter.

So, Jing Hai didn't follow the same old spiel today, instead, he just continued predending to be highly focused on examining the shoes in front of him.

Their silence continued several minutes, but not once did the sound of flipping a book page appear.

And it just caused the amused grin on Jing Hai's face to widen, until finally, his friend couldn't bear it anylonger.

"Stop pretending! I know what you are here for!", his voice was sharp, but it didn't bother Jing Hai the tiniest bit.

He didn't even turn around when he answered.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Feng Guang," Jing Hai replied nonchalantly.

But this only made Feng Guang want to grind his teeth in frustration.

"I meant, I won't meet this supposedly genius apprentice of your son and that's final!"

Jing Hai turned around, barely hiding the satisfaction he felt, not even pretending to look for a pair shoes anymore.

"Oh, you remember her! How gracious of you, I knew you where paying attention when I talked about her!"

Feng Guang really gnashed his teeth this time.

Every single time, that annoying geezer knew how to provoke him.

Even now the way the other smugly swaggered over was enough to piss him off, until Jing Hai ultimately came to a halt in front of the counter.

"Now that you mentioned her, did I tell you that my son and her would join the Bi-Yearly Competition together?", Jing Hai said with a casual tone. Watching with glee as a short flash of surprise appeared in Feng Guang's eyes before the other quickly concealed it behind his usual mask of annoyance.

"Is that so?", Feng Guang answered with deliberate disinterest, averting his eyes as if he didn't care about Jing Hai's words and returned to 'reading' his book.

Jing Hai nodded with a knowing smile on his face, which just served to annoy Feng Guang even further.

"Well, they decided on participating after she successfully created her very first artifact. Do you want to know what it is?"

Jing Hai paused, watching as Feng Guang stilled to listen before happily continuing, "A cauldron made from Lilac Brass and a metal Spirit Core that can shrink into a bracelet for hours and it only uses a minimal amount of Qi."

Hearing this, Feng Guang couldn't help looking up, countless doubts and suspicions on his face.

"It can change forms? Probably because of the Lilac Brass, but that is incredibly impractical, nobody will be able to use the artifact."

This was a reasonable conclusion considering Lilac Brass' properties, but instead of backing down, Jing Hai just had the look of a fox finally succeeding in catching the elusive mouse.

"Oh, trust me, it works, the person she gave the cauldron to has been wearing it all the time."

Even after Jing Hai's assurance, Feng Guang still had a doubtful light in his eyes although there were also several hints of curiosity.

No way this artifact worked as Jing Hai had described without causing discomfort to the person wearing it or other complications, Feng Guang was certain of that.

On the other hand, Jing Hai would never lie about something like that just to make him meet this girl.

Feeling conflicted, Feng Guang had lowered his head in thought, brows furrowed.

And Jing Hai watched patiently, or rather, enjoyed seeing his friend still so invested in artifact creation despite having sworn to never craft another artifact again 16 years ago.

Now, he only needed to give the final push.

"Their artifact for the competition should also be pretty special, my son told me that it is able to return the force of an attack back at the assailant without the user being harmed at all. Also, do you remember when I told you that she was able to refine ores to be even purer than yours?"

And with that, Feng Guang's interest was hooked.

Jing Hai could see it in the other's entire posture.

Strung tight, unwilling to reveal his interest, even though it was almost overwhelming.

Despite how Feng Guang acted, Jing Hai knew that there was still a burning passion for artifact creation inside his friend. The title 'Master Phoenix' wasn't famous all over Ren Continent for nothing.

This also meant that Jing Hai had achieved his purpose for this trip.

"Well, that was all I wanted to say, it's pretty late now. See you at the competition tomorrow!"

Jing Hai's words awoke Feng Guang from his thoughts.

It took him a few moments to realize that Jing Hai had once again succeeded in tricking him and Feng Guang opened his mouth, fuming with rage. He really wanted to throw several insults at Jing Hai, but the other had already exited the shoe store, leaving Feng Guang alone with his anger.

He angrily 'hmph'ed a few times into the sudden silence, grumbling that he definitely wouldn't attend the Bi-Yearly Competition, but in the end, he couldn't return to quietly rereading the book for the nth time, too preoccupied with speculations of these artifacts Jing Hai had told him about.

Meanwhile, Jing Hai's steps were light as a feather while walking down the alleys, humming a very much ear-hurting tune in a good mood.

Until his son came running towards him with a panicked expression on his face.

The moment Jing Jiang was close enough, he hurriedly shouted.

"Have you seen Lei Mingxing and Chang Liuyun? Did you take them with you?"

Jing Hai was stunned for a moment before quickly shaking his head, alarmed.

"No, I haven't seen them since this morning."

Jing Jiang's already pale face turned even paler.

A very bad feeling rose in Jing Hai.