Zither Emperor

Chapter 35 – Sura’s Story (III)

Sura, distressed, said, “Yin Zhu, I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. But since you have already given me so many things, can you give me one last item? I want the ring. You can keep all the contents, but give the ring to me.” As he said this, he pointed at the silver ring on Ye Yin Zhu’s hand.

Ye Yin Zhu said, shocked, “It’s not that I’m unwilling to part with it, but this was given to me by Grandfather Qin. I…”

Sura practically begged, “I don’t need the space ring’s storage function, nor do I want any of its contents. I just want the ring.”

Ye Yin Zhu hesitated for a moment. He looked at the strong yearning in Sura’s eyes and helplessly said, “Alright. I really can’t do anything about you. Fortunately, you promised to support me for the rest of your life. If it was someone else, I really wouldn’t be willing to give it away. I’ll undo the spiritual bond so that you can use it immediately.” As he said this, he manipulated some of his already-recovered spiritual force, transferring the contents of the silver ring to the sapphire space ring. He then handed over the silver ring to Sura.

“Help me place it on my ring finger.” Sura stretched out his right hand.

Ye Yin Zhu wasn’t suspicious of him at all. He automatically slid it onto Sura’s finger. Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Sura abruptly flipped Ye Yin Zhu’s hand over and gripped his wrist. Ye Yin Zhu felt something cool and slightly heavy slide into the palm of his hand.

He withdrew his hand and looked at his palm. Ye Yin Zhu discovered that Sura had pressed a silver coin into his hand. The silver coin appeared to be a somewhat special. A regular silver coin would display a magical six-pointed star engraving, as was commonly used on the continent, but this silver coin seemed to be a bit worn. The design on top had become very indistinct. The silver coin even had some corrosion and lacked any luster.

“Sura, why did you give me a coin?” Ye Yin Zhu asked in puzzlement.

Sura looked at the silver coin he placed in Ye Yin Zhu’s hand. At this very moment, his eyes brimmed with a content light. “Yin Zhu, thank you. Consider this us exchanging gifts with one another. You have given me too many things. In return, I’m giving you this. As long as you have this silver coin, I can tell a story for you to hear, okay?” As if relieved from a burden, Sura’s body seemed to become more relaxed. Idiot, this is exchanging keepsakes! Don’t you realize that this silver coin is extremely important to me?

Ye Yin Zhu nodded, asking, “And the story has something to do with you?”

Sura didn’t reply. He walked up to Ye Yin Zhu and sat down beside him.

“There was a woman who made a living by scavenging through garbage. One day, she picked up some worn out metal to sell off on her way home. When she turned into an empty alley, a hoodlum popped out. This hoodlum held a knife within his hand, and he pressed this knife against the woman’s chest. He maliciously ordered the woman to hand over all the money she had on her. The woman was terrified and stood there motionless. The hoodlum began to search her body. When he searched through the woman’s pocket, he found a shabby pouch. Within the pouch was her money. The hoodlum grabbed that pouch, turned away from the woman, and left. At that moment, the woman reacted. She immediately threw herself forward, and with lightning-speed, she seized the pouch. The hoodlum used the knife to prod at the woman, threatening her to let go. The woman, however, clenched the money pouch tightly with both hands, not relinquishing her grip no matter what. The woman unwaveringly held onto the bag and called for help like her life depended on it. Her call for help disturbed the residents of the alley, and those who heard her shout rushed over and cooperated in arresting the hoodlum.

“Everyone helped the woman by detaining the hoodlum and taking him to the nearby city jail. A city guard greeted them. After interrogation, the hoodlum pleaded guilty to mugging. That woman stood there trembling, drops of cold sweat covering her face.

“The city guard then comforted her. ‘You don’t need to be afraid.’

“The woman replied, ‘I’m in a lot of pain. He broke my fingers.’

“As she said this, she lifted her right hand. The people realized that her right forefinger drooped down flabbily.

“She would rather let her finger bei broken than relinquish her grip on her purse. Clearly, the contents of the purse were important to her. The city guard opened the money pouch, and everyone present was immediately stupefied. There wasn’t a lot in that pouch, only a silver coin. Many of them believed that a single silver coin was truly and excessively not worth breaking a finger or becoming a criminal.

“The city guard was perplexed. How strong was this woman to not give up on this meager silver coin even after experiencing the acute pain of breaking a finger?

“The woman was given basic treatment later before she walked home alone. She walked to a fruit stand with enticing fruit and carefully picked some. She used her silver coin to buy a pear, an apple, a tangerine, a banana, a stick of sugarcane, a strawberry… She bought each fruit sold at the fruit stand until there was nothing left of her silver coin. People who knew of her recent experience were baffled. Could it be that she unhesitantly sacrificed her finger to save a single silver coin, only to unexpectedly use it to buy some tasty fruit?

“The woman carried the bag of fruit and left the city to head straight towards the public cemetery on the outskirts. She walked towards a new grave in a secluded spot. The woman stood in front of the new grave for a long time, her face seemingly graced with a satisfied smile. Afterwards, she leaned the bag on the gravestone and murmured to herself, ‘Child, mama let you down. Mama has no skill and couldn’t do anything to cure your disease. I unexpectedly let you depart the world so early, after just eight years. Do you still remember? When you left, ma asked you what your most cherished desire was. You said, ‘I never ate any fresh fruit. If I could eat even one fresh fruit, it would be perfect.’ Ma was ashamed; she actually was unable to fulfill your last wish. In order to treat your illness, our family no longer had the money to even buy a single fruit. But, child, yesterday, mama was finally able to pay back the debt from borrowing money to treat your illness in full. Plus, mama still had a silver coin left over today. Child, ma can buy fruit. Can you see? Ma has a tangerine, a pear, an apple, and even a banana… all fresh. All of them, ma spent money to buy you all these fresh fruit, all of them not even slightly mushy. Ma carefully picked them one by one for you to eat. Child, can you taste it…’”

After he told this story, tears were already streaming down Sura’s cheeks. Ye Yin Zhu stared at the slightly worn silver coin in his hand. He suddenly felt that this silver coin was very heavy.

Sura continued. “That woman, she was my mama. The eight year-old boy who died was my younger twin brother. That day, I had followed mama from beginning to end. I regret, I regret that I didn’t have the power to protect mama, that I didn’t have the money to help my younger brother treat his illness. From that day on, I fell in love with money. I vowed that I must give mama a life of luxury. That day was also the first day I stole something. The silver coin in your hand is the very same silver coin that mama poured countless blood and sweat into earning to buy my younger brother fruit. If mama knew I had stolen things, she would’ve definitely gotten very, very angry with me, but I absolutely couldn’t allow the culmination of her hard work, that silver coin, end up in the hands of others. Since that year, I’ve always had this silver coin on me, constantly using it to remind me. This is mama’s love.”

“What happened next? Your mother?” Ye Yin Zhu asked inquisitively.

Sura’s eyes held distress. “I tried very hard; I tried very hard to become more powerful. Everyday, I would practice as if my life depended on it. I would go out to steal a few coins before returning. I would use every possible method to make sure mama didn’t become suspicious. But mama was really, very exhausted. When I was 13 years-old, she had fallen ill from constantly overworking herself and passed away. Although I had gone crazy and begun stealing money heavily to give her treatment for her illness, but——she still died. When she was faced with death, mama told me who my father was. It’s because of him. If it wasn’t for that bastard, mama wouldn’t have become like this. I vowed in front of mama’s grave that inevitably there will be a day where I will seize back everything that belongs to me and take revenge for my mama and younger brother.”

Wrapping his arm around Sura’s shoulder, Ye Yin Zhu, choked with emotion, said, “Sura, don’t cry. Regardless of what happens, I will stand beside you. Your business is my business. But this silver coin is really too precious. I…”

Sura abruptly lifted his head and tearfully said, “Don’t tell me you cannot accept it. When I stole it, I made a resolution. If there was a day where I could find someone who was as good as mama, I would give him this silver coin. And you are that person I’ve been looking for.”

Ye Yin Zhu once again looked at the silver coin in his hand. At this very moment, in his heart, this silver coin’s value had already risen boundlessly. This was no longer a silver coin; instead, this was Sura’s trust and affections for him. Any divine device would never be as precious as this silver coin.

“Alright, I accept. I will definitely take care of it properly.” Ye Yin Zhu didn’t immediately place the silver coin in his space ring. Instead, he concealed it in his shirt, placing it so it rested against his skin——close to his heart.

Sura wiped the tears off his face. “Several years have already passed. Every time I think about them, I can’t help but cry. Yin Zhu, am I too weak?”

Ye Yin Zhu wiped the tears at the corner of his own eyes and said, “How can that be? Am I not also crying alongside you? Sura, who is your father? He and your mother…”

Sura’s complexion changed slightly. “He was a great nobleman. At that time, mother was merely his maid. When mother was on the verge of leaving his mansion with the intention of living a new life, that night, he raped her. Mother left that place sorrowed and humiliated, but a few months later, she discovered me and my younger brother. Don’t ask me who he is. I won’t tell you. This is something I must settle on my own.”

“Yin Zhu, Sura, let’s go. Have you finished packing?” Xiang Luan’s voice came from outside the room.

Ye Yin Zhu and Sura glanced at each other. The mood gone, Sura grabbed Ye Yin Zhu’s Withered Wood, Dragon’s Roar Zither beside him and handed it to Yin Zhu. He said, “Your zither didn’t break, but the bow strings have all snapped.”

That day, when the song finished, Ye Yin Zhu’s mind had nearly been driven to the brink of insanity. In the end, he still hadn’t been able to completely control the zither song, which lead to the sound waves going out of control and the bow strings of Withered Wood, Dragon’s Roar snapping. One should know that these were seven strings made of dragon tendons! Wanting to re-string the zither wouldn’t be easy to do.

Ye Yin Zhu somewhat helplessly accepted the Withered Wood, Dragon’s Roar Zither and said, “I have no choice but to think of some way to fix it later. We need to go.”

Sura masked his emotions well. When they left the room, the sorrow on his face had already completely disappeared.

The reinforcements dispatched from Sacred Heart City consisted of ten thousand Heavy Cavalry and thirty thousand infantry, a formidable troop arrangement. At this moment, they were already outside Konya City, ready and waiting to set off. The five hundred Dragon Cavalry that had lost their mounts only had one task: to protect the prince and prince by their Highnesses’ side.

Ye Yin Zhu appeared, and all the troops immediately became quiet. Everyone stared at him, their gazes becoming slightly different. The Dragon Cavalry Knights’ gazes had plenty of fear and anger in them, while the students of Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts had, for the most part, admiration in them. After all, these were children of nobility that didn’t see the deaths of tamed dragons to be very significant. At the very least, Ye Yin Zhu had helped saved their lives.

“Idol, quickly get on,” Fisichella called out to Ye Yin Zhu.

Ye Yin Zhu helplessly said, “Your Highness the prince, you shouldn’t continue calling me that.”

Fisichella chuckled mischievously and said, “I also don’t want to, but I can’t help it! Idol, you were truly, incredibly awesome. Get on first; then we can talk.”

Ye Yin Zhu and Sura got in the carriage together. This first carriage certainly had very little occupants. Naturally, this was because Xiang Luan and Fisichella’s identities. Inside the carriage, before Ye Yin Zhu and Sura had joined, there was Xiang Luan, Hai Yang, and Fisichella. This luxurious, spacious carriage seemed to have more than enough space to spare.

“Idol, this time, you can claim a lot of credit for yourself for the enemy’s defeat. Our side’s losses only amounted to a thousand tamed dragons and five hundred Falcon Dragon Cavalry. And even though the opponent’s Behemoths can’t be described as seriously injured, we annihilated close to forty thousand troops of the army. From what I see, you don’t even need to go back to school this time; you can immediately become a Court Mage.”

Xiang Luan lifted her hand and rapped Fisichella’s head. “What nonsense are you saying? Yin Zhu is still young; naturally, he will return to school. Though, I am verily looking forward to seeing what Imperial Father will bestow upon him; I wonder what it will be?”

Fisichella rubbed his head and softly said to himself, “With you to say good words on his behalf, can something bad even be bestowed?”