Apparently there was a big scene after the incident had taken place. In addition, he had also heard from the girl that brought him here that Hua Gwan had turned mad. Now, hearing the same from Hua La, and judging the context in which it was mentioned, it seemed as though Hua Gwan's madness had something to do with the ashes.

Hua Yan wondered just what the link could be. He could only resort to these petty methods of finding out, since Frenzy kept its lipped sealed.

Anyway, Hua Yan was in no mood to stop with his clue collection. He needed more information!

"What exactly happened that caused Hua Gwan to go mad?"

"I-I can't say anything for sure," Hua La stuttered, trying to forget about the gla.s.s near his belly as he spoke, "But I know that, if it were me, I would be terrified if someone that was capable of killing a Guard Colonel came after my life. This was what happened with Hua Gwan. He had escaped from a brush with death, but though his body survived, his mind didn't."

"Why exactly do you say that?" Hua Yan asked curiously, wanting to know just why Hua La believed in that, "Did he do anything strange?"

"Yes!" Hua La replied enthusiastically, thinking back to what had happened on that day, "He had claimed that, after killing the Guard Colonel, that criminal who all the guards were after had turned to ashes and had completely disappeared. Since there were no other witnesses in the area, his word was the only thing that the clan had to go with. But, the clan didn't really like his story, so it was soon officially announced that Hua Gwan had gone mad. As for the rest, what they did with Hua Gwan and the ashes, you'll need to ask the guards."

Hua Yan felt a little enlightened now. He had a solid idea on which direction he should proceed in. Now, all that was required was just one more thing.

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"Who can you connect me with?"

"What?" Hua La blurted out, not quite understanding what Hua Yan was getting at.

"I need to inquire more about the ashes, but going straight to the guards is rather inefficient. Who else can you direct me to?"

"Find Hua Pan. He had a major part in silencing the lower ranked cleaners who witnessed something they shouldn't have."

"Where do I look for him?"

"He should be with his men at the Raining Tea Pavilion."

"He's a cultivator?"

"Yeah, maybe about as strong, or perhaps stronger, than a guard captain."

Hua Yan really wondered why such a thug was working as a cleaner. Hua La seemed to have understood his thoughts, and quickly mentioned something.

"He used to be a guard captain in the Southern Gate. But he got into a feud with a relative of the Eastern Gate Commander. He was immediately removed from his position. Though this was the case, he was only fired as a formality, since a Gate Commander's authority greatly surpa.s.sed that of a lowly guard captain's. In truth, he still maintains his position undercover, and the Southern Gate's forces are completely alright with this. Hua Pan is a capable man and he operates in the dark. He's not just a cleaner, but a demon in disguise."

Hua Yan was rather intrigued with Hua Pan's ident.i.ty. He could hear the fear in Hua La's voice as he described the man. It seemed as Hua Pan was quite the tyrant, and also someone that should be in the know about matters regarding the lost ashes.

"Take me to him," Hua Yan said simply, dragging Hua La out by his collar.

"W-Wait a minute," Hua La screeched in panic, "Don't bring me into this! Are you insane! Knocking onto Hua Pan's gates is asking for death! You think he would let us leave alive?! I have nothing to do with your matters, so go by yourself!"

"It will be fine."

"Hua Pan is a bloodthirsty man that's more ruthless than a snake! Once he latches his fangs onto you, he won't let go! If you offend the man in even the slightest manner, he'll end your 9 generations!"

"I won't let him kill you, so don't worry," Hua Yan re-a.s.sured, continuing to drag Hua La outside.

"On what grounds are you saying that!" Hua La bursted out, very intent on not following Hua Yan into the tiger's done.

"On the grounds that you either trust and follow me, or be known as the man that was stabbed and killed by a random piece of gla.s.s."

Hua La had instantly shut up.

As for the other person in the room, she was shocked with Hua Yan's domineering manner of dealing with things. She had never seen someone as mean and overbearing as Hua La have a taste of his own medicine. Seeing him kicked down a peg gave her great satisfaction.

Today was like a dream to her, and Hua Yan was at the center of her fantasies, showing her a whole new world. Subconsciously, she followed him outside after leaving all of her boxes in a pile on a table.

Hua La was no longer being dragged and walking forth on his own accord. Though Hua Yan had removed the piece of gla.s.s from his body, Hua La felt that it could stab into him at any moment, so he proceeded forward with shaky steps.

Was he now stepping out of the fire and into the frying pan? Wasn't that what it meant for him to follow Hua Yan into Hua Pan's turf? Hua La wanted to know why he had to come along.

"Why me? We have no great vengeance with each other, so why are you making life difficult for me?"

"Because circ.u.mstance demands it. It would be too much of a ha.s.sle for me to find someone else, so just curse your luck for everything that's happening to you."

"But this is just so unfair!" Hua La screamed out. To be honest, even he found his words somewhat ridiculous. He was perhaps the last person that should be talking about fairness, seeing as how he was not fair most of the time. Nevertheless, he had to make this point clear. He really found Hua Yan's actions to be a little over-the-top.

"Life's unfair. Blame yourself for being weak."

Hua Yan was essentially repeating what Frenzy had told him. He felt some weird pleasure in doing so, since he was not the target of these frustrating words this time.

A few seconds later, the three had reached Raining Tea Pavilion, Hua Pan's current base of operations.