The next few days were a blur to Jiang Yu Yan. The memory of Yu Ting's death was fresh in her mind but the fact did not sink in. Her father had no reaction and had left Yu Yan alone for those few days. She spent those days mostly alone, locked away in Xiao Yu's bedroom with Da Yu curled up on her lap. She never knew that death could affect her so badly. She had taken death so lightly before and now she was scared. Yu Ting was gone. Yu Ting would never come back.

This experience was something new to her. Yes she had 'witnessed' Jiang Yu Ru's death but Yu Yan had hated that girl so her death meant nothing to her. And not being able to see a death with her own eyes didn’t make it seem as bad; Yu Tang, Yu Tong and Yu Jing were her sisters but they were currently imprisoned so now Yu Yan was alone. She never realised that she could feel so lonely without her sisters even if she hated most of them. She was the only one left. The other clones were more like lab rats kept in cages rather than being fit to be called her sister. She felt so small now. She always knew her sisters would be there for they had the same goal in mind but now they weren't and she was the only one left able to help her father achieve his goal.

She sat quietly, Da Yu's fur and hugging the big green fish plushie. Then there was a soft knock on the door and Xiao Yu walked in, "Hey," he greeted.
"Do you need anything, Little Fish?" Yu Yan asked, not turning her head to face him.
"How are you feeling?" he asked her, sitting down beside her.
"Better," she answered, "I want to go outside, I've been indoors for too long," she added.
"Lei Ke Si said..." Xiao Yu paused and looked at her.
"Lei Ke Si said what?" Yu Yan asked.
"He said that his master has some ways to defeat Ye Zi," he continued, "We are going to go visit him, do you want to come along?"
Yu Yan nodded, "Of course," she replied and stood up.
"Are you okay with that?" Xiao Yu asked.
She showed him a small reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me," she said, "I get over things pretty quickly."
He cast her a worried look as he followed her out of the room.
 

~*~*~
 

"This is Master Fu," Lei Ke Si introduced his master to his friends.
"XIU?!!!!?!???!" Da Dong exclaimed in shock.
Master Fu looked at him, "Xiu?" he repeated.
"You look like Xiu! But an older version!" Da Dong gasped.
Lei Ke Si gave him a puzzled look.
"Master Fu must be Xiu's alternate in the gold dimension," Ya Se explained and Da Dong nodded in understanding.
"Well it's nice to meet you all," the man greeted them, "I am Master Fu." Master Fu was Xiu's alternate but his hair was longer and messier. He was also older and wore a long black coat, creating an air of mystery around him.

"Master Fu, thank you for sparing us some time," Lei Ke Si said, "These are my friends. This is Wang Da Dong, Wang Ya Se, Ding Xiao Yu, Tian Hong Guang and Jiang Yu Yan."
"Hello," Ya Se said.
"Nice to meet you," Xiao Yu added.
"Hi," Yu Yan muttered.
"Good afternoon," Hong Guang smiled.

Master Fu smiled and told them to take a seat, "From what Lei Ke Si has told me, you guys want my help with helping you regain your battle points and defeating the demon tattooed pan?" he asked.
Tian Hong Guang nodded, "Lei Ke Si has told us about how you restored his yi neng through refining and I was wondering if you could help me too."
Master Fu smiled, "Of course I can, but I'll have to take you down to my basement if you don't mind," he replied.
"That's all right," Hong Guang answered.

The group of them walked down a dimly lit staircase into a basement filled with peculiar items. There was a giant gear attached to the walls that was glowing and had several thin tubes coming out of each tooth into test tubes. "This is what I use to refine yi neng," he explained, "I pass some yi neng through this sphere," he showed them a large glass ball that was at the centre of the gear, "and it absorbs it. Once I turn the gear, the yi neng is separated into its different components. Once it is separated it, I work on the different elements in my lab and purify it before fusing them all back together," he explained.
"That sounds like a lot of work," Da Dong commented.
Master Fu nodded, "It is, but luckily for you youngsters, I have some that I finished working on last week," he said and opened a small cabinet. He then brought out a small test tube that contained a transparent liquid that was glowing.

He gave it to Hong Guang, "This is liquefied yi neng that I've condensed. Once you drink it, it may take a while for your body to accept it but it will begin transforming it into yi neng that you can use. Don’t worry it will take no longer than a day for your battle points to start increasing again," he explain.
Hong Guang thanked him and gulped it down immediately. A shiver ran down his spine as he drank the cold liquid.

"How do you feel?" asked Ya Se.
"A bit cold," he answered, "But I feel it tingling inside me," he said.
Lei Ke Si smiled reassuringly at him, "Don't worry. It will definitely work," he said.
"I don't doubt Master Fu at all," Hong Guang replied with a confident smile.

"Then Master, can you tell us about the demon tattooed pan now?" Lei Ke Si asked and the elderly man nodded.
"The demon tattooed pan belongs to the three legendary tattooed pans," he began as he walked over to a hatch on the floor that was covered by the thick black carpet. Curiously, the students of Zhong Ji Yi Ban watched him. Master Fu opened the heavy hatch and dragged out a large wooden box.

"So there's another tattooed pan?" Xiao Yu asked.
"I didn't even know the demon tattooed pan existed," Da Dong admitted.
Master Fu opened the lid of the box revealing a silvery pan sitting on a soft velvet cushion. But the empty space beside it showed that there had been two other pans that used to sit beside it as there were imprints on the cushion. Da Dong looked at the pan in amazement and he brought out his own dragon tattooed pan to compare them. His own tattooed pan glowed red as a reaction to the third pan.

"This is the Ghost Tattooed Pan, the strongest of the three legendary tattooed pans," he began, "As you can see, the dragon tattooed pan is reacting to it after being in its presence again after several hundred years."
"Several hundred years?" Yu Yan repeated.
Master Fu nodded as he closed the lid, "My ancestors used to be the owner of the pans several hundred years ago but as time went on, the dragon tattooed pan became separated from the other two and has landed in the possession of you, Wang Da Dong," he said, looking at Da Dong.
Da Dong observed his dragon tattooed pan, "Then how did the demon tattooed pan get into the hands of our enemy?" he asked.
Master Fu, "That is partly my fault," he began, "I have been the keeper of the ghost and demon tattooed pans for most of my life until twenty years ago when the demon tattooed pan was stolen from me," he explained.
"How was it stolen from you?" Lei Ke Si asked.
"And how exactly was it your fault?" Ya Se added.
Master Fu sat down with a sigh, "I'm afraid to say that your enemy... is one of my students."
"He's your student?" Yu Yan spoke up, surprised, Is he talking about father or Ye Zi...?
"He was my student," he corrected.

"Why would your own student steal it from you?" Da Dong asked.
"His mind became corrupted," Master Fu said, closing his eyes as he remembered his past, "He was from another dimension and used to visit often with his little girlfriend. What was her name...? Ah, Yu Er. It was Yu Er," he said and Yu Yan's eyes widened. At the same time, Da Dong pulled Yu Yan's hood over her head to cover some of her face.
"He might recognise you," he whispered to her quietly. Yu Yan didn't react but then faintly nodded.
"Yu Er," Ya Se repeated, "We know that name."
Master Fu met his eyes and he took in a deep breath, "They were a happy couple in love. Although I disapproved of them crossing through dimensions so often, I still taught that boy everything I knew about yi neng. He was a very special and extremely intelligent boy, he surpassed me in just a few years. But I was very proud of him; he was like a son that I had raised and I saw the two of them more frequently."

"Our enemy is a master at yi neng," Xiao Yu muttered in conclusion, "Then we are at a disadvantage."
"What happened next?" Yu Yan inquired.

"The girl, Yu Er, she fell ill and thus I saw less of her. But that boy, I called him by the name of..." he paused, "I'm sorry I can't remember... all I remember is that the last character in his name is 'Lin'. He continued to visit me but he began reading about dark yi neng and began practicing martial arts that were made illegal by all 12 Meng Zhu's of the 12 dimensions – they were dangerous because they interfered with life and death. I disapproved of him and burned any documents about them that I owned to prevent him from going down the wrong path, but in the end, he grew very angry and injured me severely." Master Fu then ed his coat and showed them a thick dark scar than ran down his chest to his stomach, "He told me that Yu Er had died and he wanted to revive her."

Yu Yan gulped and stepped away from the group silently. Da Dong gave her a worried look.

"Is that what he's after then?" Hong Guang asked, "He wants to revive Yu Er?"
Master Fu nodded, "I am very sure that is his goal. He loved her very deeply and became broken when she fell ill. When he worked out a way to bring dead people back to life - a method in which even I don't know of - he stole the demon tattooed pan and left me beaten half dead. I haven't seen him since then and that was 20 years ago."
Xiao Yu looked at his brothers, "Then he must be stealing all that yi neng to revive her."
Da Dong cast a glance at Yu Yan sadly.

"But how can we defeat him and Jiang Ye Zi?" Ya Se asked.
"You can't," Master Fu told him firmly, "You're not strong enough."
Their faces fell. "Master, that's really not encouraging," Lei Ke Si muttered.
"The only way to defeat the demon tattooed pan however, is to use the ghost tattooed pan," Master Fu explained, "As for how to defeat Lin, you need to find out his method first."
"So all we have to do to defeat Ye Zi is use the ghost tattooed pan against him?" Da Dong asked with a smile, "That's so simple! I can wield it right?"
Master Fu shook his head, "I'm afraid it's not that easy. The ghost tattooed pan looks for a specific wielder. Not anyone can use it. It's a very powerful and dangerous weapon so only someone who has a lot of demonic and ghostly qualities will be able to use it," he informed them and Da Dong's face fell, "And I can't lend such a powerful weapon to a bunch of kids. I'm sorry."
"Master!" Lei Ke Si exclaimed, "Then how do you suppose we beat our enemy?! You said we have a way to win against Ye Zi yet you aren't giving us the chance to do so!"
"I'm sorry," Master Fu lowered his head, "I don't want you kids to get hurt. I am doing this for your own good."

"Then we wasted our time coming here," Yu Yan snapped, "If you won't help us then we'll find another way!"
Master Fu sighed, "If you really must take action then I suggest that you upgrade your weapons. But even if I wanted to lend you the ghost tattooed pan, none of you would be able to use it."
"But what if we found someone who could use it?" Hong Guang spoke up with determination glowing in his eyes.
"I doubt you will," Master Fu answered, "But if you do, I will definitely lend you it."
Hong Guang grinned.
Ya Se gave him a confused look, "Who do you have in mind?"

Hong Guang just chuckled, "Excuse me while I make a call to Jiu Wu Meng Zhu," he smiled, "Trust me guys."