Chapter 5

“Master, you haven’t eaten anything for two days, you must be hungry, please eat these buns,” Leah pleaded happily. She had a bit of a blush; this was the first time Zephyr hugged her like this.

“Thank you,” Zephyr nodded, he noticed Leah’s tired state, and immediately understood that she had been working hard nights again to earn some money. The Khan did not provide enough for Zephyr to survive; thus, he had to rely on Leah to provide. As he was heavily injured, he figured Leah must have worked twice as hard to nourish him back to health.

As he gently held Leah’s delicate hands, he noticed the horrible scars and wounds on her hands. Her wounds were slightly swollen; but they did not have enough money to treat them.

“Leah, you don’t have to push yourself anymore!” Zephyr said.

“It’s ok, I can handle it!” Leah replied with a slight smile. Zephyr’s injuries were severe, his body was weak. He knew she would see to it to nourish him back to health.

“If I asked you not to go, don’t go,” Zephyr said sternly. “I have an idea to earn big.” Based on what he has learned in his previous life, money was nothing more than a bunch of numbers to him now.

“Tsk… who knew that you were so resilient!” a cold, shaky voice suddenly ringing through the shack. Zephyr was slightly disturbed after hearing that familiar, venomous voice. He lifted his head towards the door, and saw a small, grey, old man, squinting at them. His stare was as unnerving as a viper.

“Wesley!” Zephyr stared at him coldly, a bout of anger rising within him. Wesley was one of Lincoln’s lackeys. He was stronger than Zephyr, and a wicked character. It was him who stole Leah away and sent her to Lincoln. If it was not for Zephyr, Leah would have been defiled by that b*stard Lincoln.

“I will kill this man!” swore Zephyr silently.

When Leah saw Wesley, she was petrified, and further burrowed herself into Zephyr’s embrace, unable to look back. Zephyr protectively hugged Leah, gently patting her back. With a murderous and cold look towards Wesley, he asked, “What do you want?”

“You little sh*t, you got lucky back there! The great Master Lincoln is a forgiving man, he does not bother with past trifles… he sent me to examine you.” Looking wryly, he took out a pill bottle. “Here’s a spirit pill, take it and heal yourself, never forget the exalted one’s kindness!” he spat. Seeing the bottle, Zephyr couldn’t help but snicker in his mind.

As suspected, Lincoln was scheming to slowly poison Zephyr.

“Hey Zephyr, take care of yourself, alright?” Wesley placed the bottle down and cackled coldy while exiting.

“That's weird, why would Lincoln give you a spirit pill?” Leah said with a worried look.

“I figure he’s scared; I am the young master after all. If he murdered me, I don’t think he’ll get out that easily,” Zephyr said with a relieved smile. However, his demeanor changed after smelling the pill; once again, it had been tampered with.

…

Half a year passed, and in that span of time, Zephyr trained day and night, the Way did not disappoint. In the 6 months that he had been training, his powers grew beyond what he could have imagined, and it utterly satisfied him. Moreover, the Way allowed his body to break to new levels. Even though he has not fought anyone since Lincoln, Zephyr knew that he could take on those beyond his current level. He knew he had been training hard — with some help from Lincoln’s spirit pills — but was still surprised with his improvements.

As Lincoln was keen on slowly poisoning Zephyr, he had Wesley deliver a poisoned spirit pill each day. Little did he know, the pill eased Zephyr’s training manifold.

“Ptui!” he spat.

Zephyr slowly opened his eyes and stared at the inky black liquid that was spat out. An empty smile appeared. “Lincoln… you probably never considered that a dragon’s Might can so easily be rid of your poison,” Zephyr thought mockingly. “I’ve been training for so long, I’m almost beyond my current level,” he pondered.

“However, the pills are starting to lose their effect on me,” Zephyr concluded worryingly.

Zephyr glanced at the three pill bottles nearby, and an idea suddenly popped into his mind.