She slowed down to take a good look of what was remaining of her childhood home. When they left, they were in such a hurry. She wasn't sure at the time she would be able to see her ancestral ground again.
"I am finally back. Don't worry Father and every member of the Shang family who lost their lives, I will definitely avenge you."
Ai took out the alcohol bottle she had hidden on her body and poured it out on the ground to pay her respect.
"hmm Where did he go?....YOU can't HIDE from me! SHOW YOURSELF!"
When Ai heard the faint rustling of the tree leaves, she felt it was abnormal and hid right away. Luckily she did, not too long after she saw a shadow appearing.
Clearly not. a. friend. There was the same murderous intent she felt earlier. Ai could not determine the person's strength. Looking at him, he had a military outfit but she had never seen that uniform before.
"Special forces? This is not looking good for me..."
She tried to suppress her aura as much as possible to conceal her presence. The pressure in the air was getting stronger. She was barely hanging in there when suddenly a masked person jumped down to fight.
The masked man had a very simple outfit and a staff in his hand as a weapon to fight. The masked man moved swiftly and attack his opponent with a striking force.
"Hiding? Who would need to hide? I was just taking a nap! You dare wake me up, I'll teach you a lesson!" He said laughingly. He was easily evading the other's attack and mocking each time.
"I'Il KILL YOU!" He screamed in anger while increasing his speed of attack. Despite his armor, the military man was fast and deadly.
"The person who can kill me has still yet to be born!" The masked man escapes the strike and taunted him some more.
They both fought intensely. Light sparkles were falling from each one of their landed hits. They were fighting with.... spiritual energy?! How strong must they be to be use their energy in battle that way?!
"I should make a move or I won't be able to escape the aftermath of their battle!"
Ai was thinking of a way to leave incognito but the battle was still going on fiercely and she definitely wanted to avoid attracting the attention of the 2 super powers below. She already had a slim chance surviving if she was to fight one but two was impossible.
As she was still pondering her options, she heard a voice resonating in her head.
"Brat, I'll the distract this old fart, use that opportunity to run."
Ai was so startled she almost fell of her hiding place.
"How can you be in my head?! Who are you?!"
"Little imp, I'm expending a lot of spiritual power to communicate this way! Get your ass out of here!!!"
When she looked down, Ai felt the masked man piercing eyes on her and immediately understood the voice belonged to him.
"While fighting me you can't afford to be distracted! Take that hahaha!" The military man seized that opportunity to strike the masked man down with his palm.
At the same time, the masked man realized he wouldn't be able to evade the hit and thus used his staff to hit the shoulder of the military man. Both received powerful hits and were standing by sheer will.
"I can't eliminate you today, but don't think this is over. I'll be back!" With a hand move, a smoke screen formed and the military man disappeared into thin air.
Only when the military man was no longer in sight, the masked man who was holding himself up with the staff collapsed, spurting blood from his mouth.
Ai didn't hesitate and went quickly to his help.
"I think I overused my abilities. Brat, you should go somewhere safe before they come back."
On those whispered words, the masked man fainted. The palm had left a bloody imprint on his chest. He was loosing his life drop by drop.
Ai quickly calculated. The secret entrance wasn't far. Though she didn't owe this stranger anything, she felt compelled to save him.
Using branches, lianas and vines, as well as strips of tissue she made out somehow a stretcher, rolled the body on it and drag it out to the secret room. The task wasn't easy as the body was heavy and the terrain fairly unequal, really not ideal to move an injured person.
In the secret room, she provided him first aid and ensure his wound was bandaged. Only once she made sure the man was safe, she headed out to erase all traces of their movement. The enemy would be back. Meticulously and as fast as a human could be, she swiped the ground, erasing traces of the fight and marks of the stretcher. She then used leaves to recover it back to what it was initially. Walking far away from the main location, she broke branches and disturbed the ground randomly to lure the enemies in the wrong path if ever they were to come.
She was just about to be done when she heard distinctive noises again. One more time, she jumped high and concealed her presence.
The military man was back with a troop. She could clearly see the man was also heavily injured. He relied on his subordinate's support to move.
"Sir, he is gone!"
"Impossible! He took the full force of my palm. Nobody had ever survived it. I will never believe a criminal can be that strong. Separate and find him!"
After what felt an eternity, they recouped back and shared their findings.
"Sir, we could not find him. It seems he disappeared. We looked for miles around and could not find a single clue!"
"Same for us Sir. No traces! No clues!"
"Bunch of useless fools!!!!" The military man was angered beyond reason. Without warning, he took the sword from his attendant and sliced the throat of one the men reporting to him.
"No use in keeping you alive!"
Immediately, they all kneeled and apologized for their uselessness. They were shivering with fear.
"Let's return for now."
When they left, Ai sighed of relief. "I should go back and check on him."
In the secret room, the masked man was still unconscious. Outside, the night was giving way to the day. The room felt like home, Ai just decided to rest awhile. She had no idea that her disappearance that night would end up causing such a big disturbance in Capital city.