Chapter 890: That's what friends are for

Chapter 890: That’s what friends are for

“Tche~… I knew Imperial Father wouldn’t just let me go for a vacation…”, Wei Yuanjie dramatically flopped onto the sofa with a sulking face and tone of voice.

“Relax, it’s just the official reasoning for why you were allowed to leave the palace. This ship is the symbol of the Emperor’s decree that gives you the authority. It’s not that you actually have to do anything, really”, Wu Long chuckled, following him into the room of the ship, and sitting on another sofa to the side in a relaxed pose.

“But I am still doing a task for the Imperial Family, for the Wei Dynasty! Even if it’s just a nominal one that I have for show!”, there was clear frustration in Wei Yuanjie’s voice.

“It depends how you look at it. You can spend your time thinking that you are being sent here, or you can enjoy your free time vacationing using the task you were given as an excuse. Enjoyment is a state of the mind, a choice, and a matter of perception in this case”, Wu Long’s tone, was the opposite, carefree and relaxed.

“Heh, says someone who also used me to get what he wants at every turn, even after we departed, you used my status both in the Helian Family’s situation and with this Soft Something Continent…”, Wei Yuanjie made a sulking tone of voice, as he felt like Wu Long used him like everyone else was using him before, as a political tool.

“I did, not that I hid it”, Wu Long chuckled, nodding, “Not that you did anything you wouldn’t have done either way or had to restrict yourself from enjoying freedom”

“Still… it all irks me…”, the prince grumbled.

“Not even being asked or informed beforehand? Being used and pushed? Kicked like a ball from one side to another? Treated like a convenient tool? Made to-…”

“I get it!!! I’m not in the mood for bante-…!”, Wei Yuanjie flared up turning to Wu Long, and freezed upon seeing a completely serious face despite his earlier words sounding like teasing, in the same tone that he spoke before, light and carefree.

“Then don’t let others do that”, Wu Long spoke in a slightly more serious, but calm tone as if just narrating his observations, adding “Don’t let me do that without permission either”

“…”, Wei Yuanjie widened his eyes, and then furrowed his eyebrows, “Isn’t it you who should be changing how you treat me?”

“You are being treated how you allow yourself to be treated. I could treat you better, but that’s because I would want to, most people only treat you how they can”

“I-It’s not like I can do anything about it, I can’t control what other people do… let alone Mother, Brother or Imperial Father…”

“Then don’t”, Wu Long shrugged his shoulders, seemingly not willing to argue over Wei Yuanjie’s decision, as it was at least a kind of decision, “I reached my goal in treating you like others did, so I’ll treat you better now”

“…”

Wei Yuanjie’s frown deepened as he felt his frustration not dissipate but rise instead.

He then asked, in an irked tone, “So I can’t even complain?”

“I never said that”, Wu Long shook his head.

“Then why are you judging me?”

“Am I?”, Wu Long asked in a neutral tone, “Look at me, and see if I am judging you”

“…”, Wei Yuanjie was suddenly at a loss of words, an uncontrollable frustration and rage rising in him even though he realized Wu Long was right, in that there was absolutely no judgment in Wu Long’s tone, words or expression nor was there a reproach.

In fact Wu Long seemed neutral. Not completely indifferent, but ready to accept Wei Yuanjie’s choice as it ultimately was about him, and not about Wu Long.

And not lacking intellect, the prince knew at that moment, that what he saw as judgment in Wu Long was only a reflection of his own judgment toward himself. He, himself felt that the excuse he used of not being able to change anything, was simply not true.

He was just too emotional to outwardly admit it at this moment.

And yet, he felt that if he just rebuked Wu Long, shouted ‘Whatever!’ and became dejected, or offended, he would somehow lose.

Wu Long’s tone became a bit softer as he spoke next, “I wanted you to complain, Yuanjie, or rather, I wanted to to get frustrated, get angry, ideally… enraged. I wanted you to see that you haven’t given up. See, if you didn’t have any frustration, I wouldn’t even try to shake your frustration awake. If you, deep down, didn’t believe you could do something, you wouldn’t even feel frustrated, you’d just give up and take anything that came your way with a resigned attitude you had when I met you at the palace first”

Wei Yuanjie listened with a frustrated look, but Wu Long’s words reached him all the same, sinking deep into his mind.

“If you want to change how others treat you, you can at least try. And if you try and don’t have enough power yet, you can always ask for help. That’s what friends are for. But I can’t help you if you don’t have the will to change your surroundings on your own, you’ll just get stuck in some other ‘unchangeable circumstances’ a bit later. As long as a cage exists in your mind, you’ll have one around you in life”, Wu Long spoke with a sigh.

The bodyguards that entered the room after the two and stood by the door gave each other glances throughout this conversation as it veered off into a dangerous territory.

And at this point, finally…

“His Highness is tired and not in the mood right now”, the head bodyguard stepped forward with a sharp gaze, causing Wei Yuanjie’s eyes to show a deep frustration and at the same time, disappointment.

After Wu Long’s last words, he felt like perhaps, he too could be as free and decide his fate as Wu long. Alas, the gilded cage his mother set up around him started to close.

But…

“Is he now?”, Wu Long asked curiously, his tone shifting to a carefree one again as he smiled, reclining back on the sofa to look at the bodyguard. and then turned to Wei Yuanjie, “Are you?”

“…”, Wei Yuanjie, whose head drooped down, looked up at Wu Long with wide eyes.

It was the first time that Wu Long asked him something about what he wished, not offered him a course of action, not pushing him into a direction which was convenient for Wu Long, not agreeing with his whim that Wu Long did not mind, not just teasing him.

It was a question of his wishes, outside the sandbox he was his whole life, a question of what he wanted out of boundaries that were set around by others.

This was, perhaps the first ever, real question toward his opinion ignoring any circumstances, that Wei Yuanjie received in his whole life.

What did he really want? Not what could he get, but what did he want, purely and simply.

“Daoist Wu, you are crossing a li-…”, the bodyguard spoke with a cold tone, a dangerous glint appearing in his eyes, as did the others. They certainly respected Wu Long for his prowess, but they were still men that the Empress sent to ‘guard’ her son.

“And who are you to say he is crossing any line?”, Wei Yuanjie spoke up, causing the bodyguard to freeze.

“Your Hi-…”

“That’s right. I am an Imperial Prince, and you are?”

“Your Highness, your Mother sent us to-…”

“Yes, she assigned you to guard me. Does that mean you can ignore what I say?”, Wei Yuanjie spoke in a frustrated voice.

“I am afraid I will be forced to”, the bodyguard knew this was a precarious situation that threatened the status quo.

He had to put his foot down to squash any signs of this behavior, his pose straightening up and becoming more menacing, with an underlying threat of using force even if he did not say it outright.

He knew Wu Long was better than him in martial arts, but he still had a higher cultivation. And as the situation with Li Weifang was obscured for them with Fen Baihu’s powers, he still believed he had the upper hand.

At this point, he also knew he had to start really keeping Wu Long at a distance from the prince.

“What do you say, Yuanjie? Do you want these shackles, or do you want to break them?”, Wu Long smiled, pointing a finger toward the bodyguard.

This was a moment of truth. Either Wei Yuanjie defied the bodyguard, essentially defying his mother, the Empress, for the first time, and thus starting on an irreversible path to start breaking out of his cage, or he would slip into the status quo, more comfortable as he did not have to make any decisions, or struggle.

But the frustration he felt was building up for too long, and now that it was shaken awake by Wu Long, its torrent was no longer possible to block.

After tasting a bit of what freedom could be like, Wei Yuanjie could no longer return to that cage.

“I warned you!!!”, the Nine Ring Broadsword appeared in the bodyguard’s hand and his reinforced Qi began swirling around it as it went up, using a powerful technique from the get go so to not give Wu Long the advantage of using superior martial skill.

“I want to break them”, Wei Yuanjie nodded, causing a smile to appear on Wu Long’s face.

“Very well”, Wu Long chuckled.

A blue-hued dagger sank into the back of the bodyguard, and pierced his heart, as cold, crimson eyes of a white-haired beauty glowed as she looked over his shoulder.

“Khh…”, at the last moment, he was able to shield his heart, causing the dagger not to sink too deep into it as he turned his head and shifted his intention to move.

But another dagger sliced his throat and then cut into his neck from the side after finishing the slicing motion, as another beauty with the same looks but black hair was already standing before him, appearing in the moment his attention was on the white-haired twin.

Her crimson eyes also glowed, but with a cheerful look as if she was having fun, as a giggle could be heard from beneath her silver half-face mask, “Hehehe, you can’t be swinging a weapon at Darling. No one can”

His mind became hazy, losing a bit more of his Qi control, and as a result, the dagger from behind was able to go all the way through his heart, twisting and releasing a burst of Spiritual Qi.

The last thing he saw as he fell, turning to look at the four other bodyguards, is them standing in place with dazed expressions, a subtle pink glow visible deep within the pupils of their eyes, and white fluffy tails along with the lower part of a robe.

Hehe, if you felt like Wu Long was using Wei Yuanjie a bit too unceremoniously before, it was because of this

Although strangely, I expected a lot more comments about that haha, and got none lol

I guess I succeeded in putting that in subtly enough lol ^^ (Yeah, I’ll believe that, I’ll totally believe that hahaha)

Thank you for reading and your incredible support everyone!!!