"They only think he's smart, cause he hasn't said anything yet" - Lin Si, 15, at a martial art meet to her buddy
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"Alright, I'm out." Yawned Long Wen, stretching his arms behind him. He and his employees were heading down, after locking a couple things up and placing them in a cart. "You gonna come with us to town?" He asked Lin Si, noticing she was still just sitting on a stool nearby.
She waved him away. "Yeah, I'll follow in a bit, gotta finish my wine." It was a good night, and she'd almost finished making up plans for what gifts to give Li Junlong, when she noticed they'd long since disappeared. The night was dark, barely able to see more than a couple paces into it.
She listened to the night, noticing in particular how few bird calls there were that night, and when a howl joined in with the crickets. Several barks followed. It wasn't far off either, but it also wasn't particularly close. So she didn't bother until the howls became more frantic. And she remembered what Li Junli had said to her about this of his brother. Well, he probably didn't even go out tonight, I mean, who hunts in the woods at night anyway? And if he did, he probably didn't need help, but, did it hurt to check?
She stood up finally, picking up her blade, she left the sack of her belongings by the chair she'd sat on adjusting the large sash around her waist, to remove most of the silver. Only her pill collection remained.
Stepping into the woods, the crickets only got louder, and the birds softer, the deeper she went. The muffled howls she'd heard turned frantic, and then finally disappeared, although sounds of some scuffle could still be heard. She considered turning back there, since this woods really was eerie in how dark it was, but she shrugged it off. She wasn't tired yet, and had no plans for where to sleep, so what was wrong with at least checking the area? Plus, if it wasn't Li Junlong the wolves had found, there was a chance it might be a towns folk, and she felt it was her duty as a martial artist to protect the normies. Maybe she'd even come across the pack and slaughter them or chase them out of the town's area.
Over an incense stick later, she was still tromping, well, with her messed up qigong the ground covered was more alike to sprinting, despite the lazy posture, in the same direction. She had always had an impeccable sense of direction, which she appreciated now, since all the trees looked dismally the same, and the stars were basically completely obscured by the leaves above. However, since she'd reached master, she had always somehow known which easy was north south or east. Something inside of her, somehow just knew, no matter where she was.
She sent her presence out ahead of her, warning any predators or prey away.
"I'll go a little deeper." She commented out loud, to comfort herself. It was uncomfortably silent now, even the cricket sounds were getting farther in between and muted.
+++
Li Junlong sat against a tree, blood poured out from his midsection. He had a lot of regrets at this moment. Why didn't he bring his sword? Why had he been so lost in thought he let himself get surrounded? But more than that, he was absolutely miserable. Not only was the smell of blood surrounding him from every side, - the smell he hated most in the world, after the battles he'd been through- but it was also almost pitch black. He could barely make out a couple bushes a little ways away, but even that took straining his eyes. He hated the dark, he always had, unlike his brother, his ptsd went in the other direction. Visions of that time, the helplessness, the terror of that time kept flashing past his eyes. The evening he had been gone from home, keeping late into the night at where he worked. Why didn't he return earlier? If he hadn't let his comrades goad him into a drink…If only he had been there…It was all his fault she was dead.
He kept trying to push them out, but it was impossible with how dark it was, even with his eyes wide open he kept seeing them, feeling them.
He shuddered. How did this even happen, this wasn't supposed to happen. At least after defeating so many of these enhanced wolves, their corpses littered around them, the answer finally revealed itself, a wolf, twice his size, stepping out of the darkness. His qi had once again settled, regaining his former strength, during the fight. The king wolf before him, after working so hard to whittle down his strength, seemed frustrated with the current outcome, its green eyes leaked green goo, dripping onto the ground, hissing as it hit the leaves and burning through them instantly, but it had yet to make a move on him. Li Junlong straightened himself, readying his blade.
It struck. There was close to no warning, it was suddenly before him, it moved as fast as his own movements, no, maybe faster? How could a monster cultivate to this level? He had barely braced for impact, when the tale whipped out from behind it. It was ugly, not fluffy like a wolf's, but almost completely bare like a possum's, and dressed with spikes. He sent a protective qi barrier around his waist, but somehow, it directly cut through it, the white spikes tearing past his garments and into his flesh. He clenched his teeth, without a wince of pain, leaping back at the beast, as if it hadn't just mauled apart his stomach, as if he had no concept of retreat or fear.
He leapt toward the beast, drawing his sword out from where he had caught its poisonous teeth, sending a good cut along its cheek. He fell into a tumble, a perfect tumble, landing back on his feet, his back to a tree. Two wolves still hiding in the shadows bared their teeth at him.
He readied for an attack from either side, but with a snarl from the wolf king, the subordinates backed off slowly. Li Junlong nodded at the beast, thankful for the respect. The wolf just shook its head, drops of acid flew at Li Junlong, forcing him to dodge into an uncomfortable position, trying to close the distance between them again. Then, out of nowhere, the wolf's tail lashed at him. He caught it this time, a perfect defense, his sword seeing an opening, sent a cut toward the tail he guarded against, hoping to sever it, but then claws filled his vision, the tail, the opening, it had been a scheme by the clever wolf. Even if Li Junlong saw through it, he, as the weaker party, he had had to take his chances. A claw ran into his shoulder, as he blocked the second one, aimed at his throat. The wolf widened its eyes in disbelief that he had survived.
The wolf brought its head over Li Junlong's own, acid still dripping from its eyes and mouth, as if to slowly kill him, letting him struggle helplessly in his last moments.
Li Junlong, pinned against the tree, had yet to surrender. He never surrendered. Not to anything, not to no one. With a grunt of pain, he pulled his shoulder out of place, digging the claw deeper into it, his sword raced for the wolf's neck. The wolf, death looming, leapt away, Li junlong, finally free, as if he couldn't feel the pain, raced after it. His eyes glowing white, crackling with energy, qi billowed around him, untameably, every touch with a leaf or twig, would incinerate it instantly.
Dirt was sublimated under his feet.
The wolf, seeing this spike in power out of nowhere, decided to keep running, disappearing into the night, all the wolves in the vicinity also backed down, running off after their king.
But he doubted they fled far, especially with that wolf's intelligence, probably a couple were still lurking in the vicinity for the moment he let down his guard, for the moment his spike in power backfired. And it was only a matter of time, he pushed his body to its limits for the second time in 12 shichens. The power in him running rampant, if he didn't let go of this power, it would self incinerate himself, he had to let it die. He didn't want to, but with a breath, he had let it go, it immediately became inaccessible, he fell to the ground. He knew he needed to stand back up, to get out of there, but not only were his injuries incredibly deep, his blood loss immeasurable, but, the fear, the intense fear that rose in his bones from how dark everything had become, the moment he brought back his power, the darkness sinking in from every side, the silence of the birds and insects that should fill the night, it forced him immobile, unable to move.
Why, why, why…let me go, let go of me! Let me stand up! Leave me alone!
He screamed out silently into the woods.
Please, leave me, this fear, this fear and this weakness, that can't exist in me…
+++
Lin Si first caught the salty, metallic scent of blood, and following it, finally stumbled over a corpse, following this one, she found several more, stepping around them to avoid dirtying herself too much, she finally came across another form, slumped against a tree, at first she hadn't seen it, and if not for the bright grey robes, that didn't mix with the unusually dark night, (they are very good for hiding on a moonlit night) she would have completely missed it. Luckily she didn't, and drawing near, instantly recognized him.
"Sovereign Jingsheng." She called out, a little miffed, drawing near, to kneel down by him. "You good?"
She could barely see his face in the moonless night, but he looked away anyway. She could feel anger emanating from him, but she figured it was also 'cause he didn't want to seem so defeated in front of her, an enemy, or maybe he was afraid of what she might do, what she might force upon him. She sighed, glancing around. The wolves were unusually large. But scanning with her presence, the rest had fled. She felt she had caught notice of one easily at the grandmaster level earlier, but there was no sign of it left, other than the large claw marks on the trees and Li Junlong.
"You did well," she chuckled cheerfully. "Even I don't think I could take out so many at the same time from all sides, without worse injuries than you…" Her bright voice awakened the silent atmosphere a bit, but when she went silent, it also went quiet. She unwrapped her sash, taking out from it some things. "How about this, you take a pill or two of mine, I'll wrap your waist with my pretty scarf" - very satirical sash is plain brown, shredding and a wreck- "and help you back to your place." Her sash wasn't a normal one, it wrapped several times around her waist, to bulk her up to look more intimidating and less thin, and also to hold money, pills, and help bandage herself or friends up when she got overly injured.
He attempted to scramble away from her hand that brought a pill to his lips, but she forced herself on top of him, straddling him with her legs, her knees pinching down his arms. And forcing open his mouth, to stuff the pill down his throat. After several attempts he finally couldn't prevent himself from swallowing it. She got a deep tooth mark on her fingers for the endeavor. She was also shocked by just how bad the injuries were, that he couldn't even access his qi anymore.
"There." She said in self-satisfaction, avoiding his glare. "You really should make this easier for me, now your throat is probably all scratched up." However, with the pill finally making its way down his throat, strength suddenly returned to his body, qi willingly flowing through his veins again. As if all the fear almost paralyzing him earlier had disappeared, he suddenly leapt forward, lifting her up to slam her back first into the ground, clutching her arms immobile against the dirt, his lower body weighing down hers, blood dripped down from his wound onto her stomach. She wanted to complain that these clothes were hard to wash with how tear-able they were. Quality, am I right? But, looking at his face he looked to kill her. Ugh. "It's a recovery pill, d*mn it, you loser, stop acting like I'm trying to kill you, I just wanna marry you, do you ought to treat me like an assassin just because of that?"
He paused, noticing the affect on his qi and body, some smaller wounds were already slowing in their bleeding. He backed off. She took the moment to slip out, and, since he still couldn't stand, took advantage of it, to firmly wrap his waist and shoulder with her sash, just enough to lower the volume of blood loss before the pill could finish doing its work.
"It's so good!" He seemed in shock by the results, as she helped him to his feet, an arm over her shoulder. She quickly noticed how overly heavy he was for his size, even if he was built, man, this guy is heeeavy, she couldn't help but compare him to his sleek little brother, as light as a feather, waist even thinner than her own…sigh, what a shame. What a shame. Her shoulder might ache a bit after carrying this one, sigh. What a shame.
She slung his bow and quiver over the other shoulder, and he helped her by gripping her tightly, and doing his best to move his sounded legs, as they walked back. By the time they reached the clearing near his home, he was finally walking again, and her sash had stopped filling with blood, so she figured it was almost closed on his chest and shoulder.
She brought him to the gate, without a word since earlier, she remembered what his brother had said. He didn't like talkative people, best be quiet, maybe the reason he kept rejecting her was because she talked too much only… she had to say one thing. The usual itch of someone who enjoyed making unnecessary comments. As they reached the gate she finally spoke.
"Actually, about my father, I don't know what he did to you, I was probably only a kid then, I don't know anything, but I'm really sorry he did it, I won't say you are in the wrong to hate him for it, but, could you give me a chance anyway? I don't need much, but I can prove that at least, I'm not overly evil, just, why not try to, you know, get to know each other. It is a sacred vow between our grandfathers after all…"
She paused, as he entered the gate, stepping away from her, she handed off the bow and quiver to him. Then, out of the darkness, she suddenly heard a soft voice.
"...sure."
What? Did he just agree?
"Wait? So you will? You'll court me with the prospect of marriage???" she couldn't help but get excited, immediately bantering.
He shut the gate on her face.
Ugh. Tsundere indeed, she grinned, rubbing her chin in self-satisfaction. Ah, what should she do, wasn't she just an actual charm? Yes, yes, who wouldn't fall in love, and it was so romantic too, he was wounded, and the precious maiden came and gently (ruthlessly stuffed a pill down throat) treated him, singing soft words of encouragement (swearing at him) and bringing him home. Ah, wasn't it so wonderful? Just like a fairytale! How lucky!
She skipped back towards her things, before pausing. Wait. a brilliant idea formed in her head. Yes, yes, she had just the gift for him! She'd finally figured it out!
+++
Li Junlong woke up in a better mood than he'd thought he would, even sleeping in quite a bit, the sun already high in the sky. Seeing his brother gone from bed, he quickly ran to the kitchen, to find his brother, also looking incredibly rested, just finishing his own breakfast.
"You slept in too?" He commented lightly, it was rare for his brother after all, but his little brother's lips were a bit turned up, he was practically glowing,
"Yes," the happiness almost rubbed off on him, and Li Junlong felt his lips twitch a little. He caught himself. He wouldn't smile, not until his parents' unjust murders were avenged.
He noticed his body was in an incredibly good state. It seemed that pill she had given him was far better than anything he had on hand, instantly curing all the wounds from the previous day, and even a couple of old ones. The bloodied sash was still resting on the bedstead near his bed.
The day went quite uneventfully, and thus he also went to bed like usual. He had washed the sash, but found it a little strange that she hadn't come to brother him. Grabbing it back was the perfect excuse for her. The arena gathered people again that night, but he didn't bother to check it out.
However, as he was sitting down to eat the next day, Sun'er suddenly ran in. "My lord! Someone at the gate wishes to meet you!"
Li Junlong glared at him. "If they want to fight, tell them to wait like everyone else." People wanted to meet him everyday, why would he change for this fellow?
Sun'er shrunk back, but still fingered his nose nervously. "Actually, this is the same girl as yesterday…"
"Lin Si?" He didn't notice his brother lifting his head at the name. Nor that his own voice had a funny tone to it.
"Yes?" Sun'er didn't know her name. But he was always good at being confident in ignorance.
Li Junlong stood up, leaving his breakfast unfinished. "Fine, I'll meet her."
No one had stayed out that night, but the first ten headed back up the hill before dawn, to wait for the door to open to battle. Only, this time, someone stood in front of them, a tall, thin woman, a worn out, threading stiff string tied around her waist, a bit of blood still dying the front of her outfit, holding a large sack, almost as tall as her. They recognized her, sending her waves, she waved back, a glinting smile across her face.
When, suddenly the door opened, it was as if another cool breeze spread across them. She raised her eyes to glance at the man now towering before her. Before his icy face, she grinned brightly. "Hey, I got a present for you, my lover~"
He attempted to close the door, but she caught it with her foot, striding past him into the courtyard; he gave up, shutting the gate behind her to at least avoid further embarrassment in front of others. The slimy woman had found a way to spread rumors about them being together, as if that would trap him!
Although, it was nice that she was so willing to throw her lot in with them. If they knew she was his lover, she would be targeted as well, especially by assassins. But maybe she didn't know. Either way, at least he didn't need to worry about her strength or that she would get killed by riffraff.
She set down the sack, opening it up, she began to take them out. One by one, she took out grey things. He recognized them, unconsciously taking a step back, but as she set them out, she finally looked up to grin at him. "It was quite hard, I spent all yesterday night day and tonight, beating them! They still need several treatments, but I wanted to show them to you now! Isn't it cool? 8! Can you believe you killed that many? Even I didn't realize the number…" She had also scrounged the woods for the pack, but it seemed only a few had survived in the pack, and those that were left had already disappeared from the area or were actively avoiding her.
Wolf skins lined the ground before him. She'd skinned them masterfully, each of their heads almost perfect, leaving just enough to see their once mighty jaws, but cleaning out sinews and flesh, she had also stuffed the tails and claws of them, he reached down, fingering the fur. He didn't know what she'd done, but she'd made the somewhat long hair incredibly soft to the touch, his hand brushed over the head of one. And something inside of him felt righted, he glanced over at her, she gazed back at him, and for a moment, a thought struck him: did she know? How did she know? Did she know he was like that? There's no way she guessed…How could she, she had only met him twice!
And yet, as she gazed at him, she seemed to see through everything, striking past every defense he'd put up, past every facade he sought to wear, saw his inner self, and then, she smiled.