d control him was not present. Of course Fei would slip away.

He thanked the man and turned to leave. "Pardon me, what is your name?" he asked the man with a sudden smile.

"My name is w.a.n.g Qinian, sir." w.a.n.g Qinian, official at the Overwatch Council, had seen this youngster with his bashful smile come barging in to the Council demanding to see Master Fei, asking for him by name. He decided that he was no ordinary commoner, and it was best to be deferent and call him "sir".

Fan Xian knew that after this man heard him ask after Fei Jie, he would have subconsciously connected him with the danger of poison, and so he wiped his hands and moved back. He looked at w.a.n.g Qinian and smiled. "If Master Fei returns, please let me know. Tell him... his student has come to the capital."

Fei Jie's student? w.a.n.g Qinian had a sudden urge to chop off his right hand; to punish himself for his impudence. He cleared his throat.

As he left the Overwatch Council, the sun shone down on the trees on either side of the street, and the shadows of countless leaves fell across Fan Xian's body. He walked westward along the road, and then sat on a railing by the side of the running waters. His hands were propping him up on both sides and he watched the crowd walk by. For a while, he was unsure where to go next.

He didn't want to go back to Fan Manor, even though his beloved sister was there. When he thought about Lady Liu and his father – and his plump little brother, forced to compete with him instead of spending his days reading happily – he felt uneasy.

He was willing to fight for what was his, and he wasn't going to give up.

But Fan Xian was still unsure what exactly belonged to him in this world. After all, he had once lived a different life, and he felt a degree of separation from this world.

He had not told his father that he would be going to the Overwatch Council to find Fei Jie. Although his father knew that Fei Jie was his teacher, he always felt that Fei Jie seemed more trustworthy. Perhaps it was because, not long after coming to this world, he had grown close to Fei Jie, as he had taught Fan Xian about the human body.

Now, Fei Jie was no longer in the capital. This raised some questions for Fan Xian over the arrangements for him to come to the city. And so he wondered what to do next.

As he pondered, he leapt off the railing and began to walk back absent-mindedly. When he pa.s.sed the Council building for the second time, he noticed that the pedestrians were all sticking to the right side of the street, avoiding the entrance as if they feared that some sort of foul odor was seeping from the building.

He narrowed his eyes and headed toward the building. The thin clouds overhead scattered and exquisite suns.h.i.+ne radiated out, leaving him dazzled by a ray of golden light.

Rubbing his eyes, he headed toward where the light was reflecting from and discovered a tablet by the entrance to the Council, squatting like a vanquished tiger on the floor. The tablet was made of stone and had a few words written upon it.

Fan Xian furrowed his brow. The words felt somewhat familiar, as if he'd seen them somewhere before. But when he racked his brains, he couldn't think of where they might have come from. He looked beneath and saw the inscription.

It was a strange yet familiar name.