The Ultimate Fire Master of Avatar

Chapter 71 New Developments

Kahn did not come empty-handed; he brought quite a few things with him, such as several letters and a mask.

These were all found in the secret room. Several masks were placed in the box along with the envelopes written by Ershu, so they should also belong to Ershu.

Although they were not allowed to leave the city at that time, they still investigated these items.

The investigation revealed that this was not a simple mask, but a character mask from a play called "The Dragon King and Love," a classic play that can be summarized as a fantasy romance battle drama.

According to Azura's recollection, when they were children, Ershu would often take them to see this play, and she and Zuko would even act out the characters. Every time, Azura would force Zuko to play the villainous boss, while she herself would play the lead role.

She had initially thought this was just Ershu's hobby, but now it seemed that it was not so simple.

Judging from the descriptions, most of those letters were intended to be sent to an old friend in their hometown, but they all seemed to have been intercepted for some reason and ended up piling up here.

It's obvious without even thinking that it was Ao Zaiqian's doing.

In short, he carried these things in the hope that they would be of some help to his investigation.

Fortunately, they did provide some help.

He claimed to be Ershu's friend, saying that Ershu had left the capital for some reason and he was looking for her.

When he used this excuse and took out the mask he was wearing, the attitude of the people in front of him immediately changed.

Although "The Dragon King and Love" is a classic drama popular throughout the country, the patterns and designs on the characters' masks vary from place to place, depending on the local troupe. These distinctive masks are generally not available on the market.

The pattern on the mask in Kahn's hand was a style unique to their local theater troupe.

With this crucial tool, and given that Kahn had consistently acted friendly and didn't seem like a bad person, the townspeople became more welcoming and provided a lot of information through Kahn's subtle probing.

Ershu is the daughter of their town's executive officer, and before she left, she worked in the local theater troupe and seemed quite talented. She had many supporters, which is why they still remember her so well.

"It's a pity that the girl didn't get to play the Dragon King before she left."

One theatergoer sighed, expressing regret over Ershu's departure.

The Dragon King is the protagonist of the play "The Dragon King and Love," which is their most popular play, and the mask in Kahn's hand is the Dragon King's character mask.

Although this information didn't sound very useful, Kahn nodded in agreement and then asked:

"What about Aiken? Have you ever heard of that name?"

Among the large box of letters written by Ershu that they discovered, apart from those written to her parents, the vast majority were written to a man named Aiken. Regardless of his relationship with Ershu, this was undoubtedly a very important clue.

"Aiken, huh? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time."

As mentioned before, Ershu's memories of the past are slowly surfacing in their minds, so people quickly remembered Aiken, who was related to Ershu.

After marveling at how quickly time had passed, Kahn was suddenly informed of a bombshell—

Aiken is Ershu's boyfriend!

"What?!?!"

Kahn's pupils dilated in shock, and as he was deeply astonished, his mind began to wander uncontrollably.

Aiken is Ershu's boyfriend. For some reason, Aozai forcibly married Ershu instead of her. However, Ershu still misses Aiken after all these years and often writes letters to him in secret. But Aozai intercepts all of these letters.

Damn, it's twisted!

Kahn felt a headache coming on; what kind of massive family drama was this?

He didn't come here to hear gossip. With that thought, Kahn steadied himself, cleared his mind of the jumbled thoughts, and got back to the main topic.

However, the clues ended there. Not long after Ershu left, Aiken left this place of sorrow and never appeared again.

Some say that Aiken entered the Valley of Forgetfulness, a very dangerous place, and that he may have died there long ago.

Some say he simply went somewhere else and started a new life.

The truth is now lost to time, as it happened more than a decade ago.

Valley of Forgetfulness.

Kahn made a mental note of the place; it wasn't far from the village. After he finished exploring this area, he could go there if necessary.

Kahn then inquired about Ershu's parents, but they had passed away a few years after Ershu left, as had Aiken's parents.

Kahn felt a pang of regret, both for the interruption of the clues and for Ershu's sake.

If she really did come back, but suddenly heard the news that her parents had already passed away, she probably wouldn't be in a good mood.

It was getting late, and the group, who had been having a great time chatting, wanted to invite Kahn to their home for a visit and to continue their boasting, but Kahn politely declined.

He was pressed for time; he needed to investigate further.

After repeated invitations went unanswered, they could only regretfully give up, but said they were always welcome to visit their home.

Kahn smiled and agreed, saying he would definitely do it next time.

After thinking it over carefully, Kahn followed the directions of the others to the town's theater. Ershu and Aiken were both theater actors. If Ershu had secretly returned to her hometown, she would probably have gone there to take a look, and maybe she would have found some clues.

Although it's called a theater, it looks like just a simple wooden platform with nothing special about it. However, the theater is quite old but it's kept very clean, which shows the theater company's attitude towards it.

Large-scale theatrical performances are held here regularly, and troupes also perform smaller plays or practice and rehearse here from time to time.

Today's event has ended, and I was a little late talking to a few people. The person who is responsible for cleaning up the theater every day has already finished his work, but luckily, there is still one person left.

That tall, thin middle-aged man, though thin, had a good amount of muscle. He had an average appearance, but looked very energetic and kind.

Kahn stepped forward and asked:

"Are you a theater staff member?"

The man, seeing Kahn's unfamiliar face and strange attire, showed a look of doubt and wariness:

"Yes you are.?"

Kahn once again pulled out his previous rhetoric and mask, and then asked:

"Do you know anything about Ershu and Aiken?"

To my delight, the person in front of me clearly knew something.

Upon hearing Kahn's words, his expression became somewhat subtle, and then he sighed and said:

"I haven't heard those two names in town for a long time."

My name is Norren. If you don't mind, please come to my home; I'd be happy to offer you some information.

I need to start preparing for my graduation defense these next few days. I don't know if I'll be able to manage. If I am, I can only update one chapter a day for now. I'll try to update two chapters a day when I have more time.

I hope my friends can understand (my state of mind).

I'll post one chapter now and see if I can write another one before midnight.

I just checked the information and realized that Lach has been changed to a town instead of a village.

(End of this chapter)