"I ran for three days to get here!"
"Oh? So how many hours per day?"
"What?"
"Like, did you stop for lunch, or sleep or did you run straight here, not stopping?"
"I just ran here!"
"So you ran here, continuously, without stopping to eat, drink or sleep? Why aren't you dead then?"
"...?"
Lin Si, 16, and a messenger, Su Lin, 34, trying to get past the gate.
-------
Lin Si gave chase, her blade raced after, she slammed into madam Wang so hard, the blade all the sudden cut into her like she were paper; the old woman flew backward, throwing the doors open, into the first courtyard, body, falling limp and broken to the ground.
No, that wasn't the enemy, that was madam Wang, somehow possessed by the enemy. Drawn back before her second blow. She'd heard of the mystical tricks of the Xu family, similar to those in the west, but this was only her second time seeing them in action, she hadn't even considered that it might still be madam Wang, and had inadvertently killed her.
She didn't hesitate in retrospect, racing back toward the room Li Junli was sleeping in, throwing open the door, Li Junli didn't respond, "xiao Li!" She sprinted over, turning him over to find his skin a sickly blue, his breath coming in short gasps, his entire body icy cold. He'd been poisoned. With Heixue, Black Blood poison, a terrible one and she only recognized it because of her family forcing her to read through all those books long ago…well, and that Pi Shengping.
It would cause the blood vessels to constrict, and tighten, making it almost impossible for the heart to pump oxygen from lungs to the rest of the body. She quickly grabbed some water, forcing him to drink it, and helping him breath after she did so, to help thin his blood, water was necessary. But she knew it was fast-acting and only a matter of time. It had also been given in two doses, and a third would have killed him off already completely. She was lucky enough to have caught madam Wang before the third dose.
She gripped her sword, rubbing the scar on her wrist with her other hand, stepping out of the room again.
She had spread her presence out the moment madam Wang had entered the courtyard to water the flowers, but no movement had shown itself. Not till her foot had left the door this time. Finally, a small flicker of something was caught in her senses. In a moment, she had appeared on the roof, a bare blade cleaving its way toward the movement. But the figure had already leapt down, into the second courtyard with a shriek.
Leaping down after, she gave the black-cloacked man no retreat, appearing behind him again, the cold jade blade pressed into his nape.
"You, from the Xu family, hand over the antidote."
The man in black paused for a second, before chuckling. The chuckling seemed a bit forced, like it had with madam Wang earlier. He wasn't good at laughing evilly. "Antidote? I don't have it! Ahhahaha, it's too late, he's dead, nothing you can do about it, hahahaha, and under your watch too."
She found the laughing annoying, since he spat too much when doing it, and was putting way too much effort into it, so removed her leg from the ground to land a kick on his back, but he used this attack to push himself away from her, rolling to catch himself back on his feet, still bleeding from the kick, his movements leaving greasy shadows behind.
She recognized the martial art, her eyes narrowing. Xu family…So her elderly friend was a part of it too? Interesting. She hadn't noticed him use any spellcraft. "So you don't have a cure?"
His thick eyebrows raised, his nose was curved, in a wicked way, but she could see the resemblance in it. How were they so different? "Cure? It's incurable, nothing but the infamous lihuo flower, able to cure any ailment, completely rejuvenate the body, if processed by a grandmaster alchemist, might save him at this point, but the last one on this continent is far out of any of our hands. He'll die miserably at this rate, it'll take 24 hours at most.
"That's how much time he has left, just 20 hours, and he will be as cold as the stone walls here. But…If you feed him the last dose yourself…maybe he will suffer less?"
What was this feeling? Ah, did it matter, before she thought about what she was to do, she was already racing forward, her qi surrounded her, following her every bid, almost invisibly, the blade flew forward, she noticed he'd used the time he was talking to her to take out a slip of paper, tearing it while chanting a spell, but she was already there, her blade imbedded in his body, as it slowly turned to smoke, flowing away from and around her sword, a steady scream from the man she'd stabbed, echoed out hollowly, taken away from there before he could finish its shrill tone, and she knew he was on death's hill. She wasted no more time here, racing back to Li Junli's side.
"Are you good? Xiao Li, xiao Li, please, please, be okay?"
Li Junli opened his eyes to look at her, despite the pain, he only shot looks of comfort and also relief that she found him, unable to speak due to his condition. He found it a little silly that he was dying now, now that he found a purpose to live.
She thought tears would fall from her eyes, and yet they were steadily held back by something else. She wished she was. She gave him as many pills as could help with blood circulation and rejuvenation as possible, washing down tons of water. The poison had mixed with his own condition, and both had deteriorated into a terrible state for his body, he couldn't even move his hands, but under her care he could barely move his lips and eyelids.
She finally heard footsteps outside and stepped out to see an elderly man, standing on the wall. His robes flapped around him excitedly in the wind, blowing hard from the east, pulling in with their frolicking, thick clouds of rain.
She sighed in relief. "You must be the friend Li Junlong spoke of?"
He nodded, leaping down, with a worried expression appearing on his gentle face. "Yes, you came out in a hurry, is something wrong with his brother?"
"Yes!" Lin Si, happily grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the room, he followed obediently. "Someone from the Xu family broke in, they poisoned him, he needs emergency care immediately, I need someone to guard him while I get help!"
"Oh my." The old man instantly caught sight of Li Junli's hapless state. "Did they take advantage of Li Junlong's absence?" He strode forward, reaching toward Li Junli, trembling in his tone.
"Yes, there will probably be more coming," she went to leave the room, "So make sure you-" Suddenly her eyes narrowed, and in that instant, she had disappeared from where she was exiting the door frame, her hand appearing beneath his, clapping the elderly one fiercely, right over Li Junli's face, a wave of power rushed out, the entire residence shuddered for a moment, glass and pottery broke, but not one speck of impact descended under her palm.
"Oh?" The old man smiled. "Aren't you a clever one? What gave me away?" He backed up instantly, on guard now, his hand wrapping itself around the large cleaver at his shoulder.
Lin Si smirked. "Nothing. I trust everyone."
"Fool, how then, has death not found you?" His cleaver flew from behind him and downward in his grasp, the blade resonated with noise, sparks lighting up its edge as it cut through the air and the ceiling toward her.
Lin Si, as if not facing a giant force, or a malicious blade, barreling at her, had reached out her hand as he was reaching for his own blade, the white jade sword flew into her left palm. The carvings up the edge glowed for a brief moment, with a sickly glow, and then it lifted upwards.
He suddenly dodged. He didn't see it, but all his instincts from years of battle told him to flee. He was fleeing, as his eyes widened in disbelief, his blade was directly severed in two, he slid outside, a cut appearing on his neck.
He'd barely escaped death. One second later, he would have died. She strode out of the house after him. She gazed down at his kneeling form, with a malignant look in her eyes. Her hand slowly rose up, lifting up the white patterned sword to point gently at him, "This. Is why."
He shuddered, but, never one to back down, and knowing retreat wasn't an option, he still gripped the base of his sword, leaping towards herself.
It was futile, she barely changed posture, killing a man at the peak of master, with a flick of her wrist, his left chest bled out from the silent cut. He was downed, falling forward, over the steps, his right hand still reaching toward the inside of the door.
She strode back inside, not bothering to spare him another glance.
She continued to wait for Li Junlong's friend, she had to hope that he would arrive, but as the sun fell, already 2 hours till hitting the horizon, she knew the waiting had to be over. He would die at this rate. There was no way for him to live, only 16 hours more and he would be gone from this world. She glanced at the body at the entrance. Was that his friend? Strangely enough, the body wasn't even showing signs of stiffening. Did he live?
Didn't matter. He couldn't move, and he would die soon. Maybe if he were alive, she could get his confession to prove her innocence in the matter to Li Junlong. Plus, it was Li Junlong's friend. Even if he betrayed him, perhaps Li Junlong would like his life spared.
She tried some other things to help Li Junli, but the drug didn't abate in the slightest. She wasn't her sister, or Wen brothers, or the divine doctor from the north. She couldn't find a way to remove the drug in his body. She finally gave up reading through the documents in Li Junlong's storage and returned to the bed, leaning over to kiss his brow.
"I'll be right back, hold on, just a little bit. I've left water on your bedside, if you recover enough, please take some, there are pills by your pillow." She took out a candle, lighting it. "You see this candle? When the flame reaches the base, and when the sun rises again, I give my word, that I, Lin Si, will be back again, and will save you. I will not be late, so you must live, alright? Don't make my efforts worthless, hold on, stay strong, I will trust in you, do not fail me, and I know you won't because I know…you, Li Junli, are stronger than anyone." She kissed him again, one tear trailed down her cheek landing on his, and mixing with his own tears. "Don't cry, I'll return, you will get better, in fact, you will walk again, just hold on until I return, stay strong, stay alive, that's all I ask."
With that, she got up, removing herself from the room, closing the door behind her, and reaching her room, she changed into her previous garb, having been washed, repaired and folded long ago by madam Wang. It was the hard work of the one she had killed, just like the blade in her hand.
Changing into it, grabbing her bag, she searched through her things, rolling out an eerie mask before sprinting toward the stables. Besides Li Junlong's mighty hunting horse that had been taken for his journey, there was another, to be a companion to his stallion. It was a younger, chestnut gelding. He wasn't overly large, but his legs were long and strong, and with Lin Si's light weight, the horse had no issues at all. There were no extra saddles, but Lin Si had no need for one. She took off at a gallop, heading north, following the Jin River, as fast as the wind and the horse could take her.
Heading for Heixuan.
+++
Li Junlong had made it to the meeting point. It had taken most of the night. Everything in him screamed to not leave his brother in the hands of Lin Si, but Ru Tuo had assured him that he would arrive there the same evening he had left, having headed for his residence immediately after getting this captured cultivator.
Junlong didn't mention it to Lin Si, this was her test. But he trusted Ru Tuo, the only man he'd finally put his trust in after all these years, the man who'd helped save him from some demonic cultivators long ago, letting him recover in his home, protecting his brother, providing physicians and helping him finish comprehending his martial arts.
Ru Tuo had been the one to get this captive, and left him in a mansion of one of his allies, the Zhang mansion, which was first and foremost loyal to the emperor.
He had also been contacted by the demonic cult, they asked to meet up; that they had information for him, information that would make him open to cooperation. He'd tossed the man outside without much thought, but now that they had captured a demonic servant, maybe he could get some information about what exactly they were trying to inform him of, and perhaps some secrets of how to sneak in and steal the lihuo flower from them. He didn't know why, but something inside him had settled for the first time in so long, he was actually able to leave his brother for an extended amount of time, and attempt once again to change their reality for the better (he planned to return on the Monday). He smiled a little as he entered Fenglu city. He still couldn't believe he could smile.
He had thought he would never do it again. But now, here he was.
His horse was tired after journeying the entirety of the night, and it was already nearing the afternoon as he headed toward the residence.
However, right before he made it to the gates, a trace of demonic qi could be felt, he heard a slight tinkling of chuckles, he readied his blade in response to the demonic spell, but all that appeared was a slip of paper drifting down from above, to land in his hand, the person delivering it having disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
He held it hesitantly. Was this the information the demonic cult wished to share? They even sent their second strongest out from their stronghold to deliver it?
The only one stronger than the jumping hare, who had dropped it in his lap, was the demon lord himself. Well, some rumors also claimed the White Hare was an ancient. He doubted. What kind of ancient looked so fluffy?
He was intrigued. What sort of lies would they brew up this time? He rode into the designated residence, he had come here only once before, the head of the house was an old man, stuck in bed, but had two healthy sons that managed everything. Leaving his horse to feed, he stepped inside, and a steward led him to sit, giving him some refreshments after his journey.
"Can I see the prisoner right away?" He requested, but still grabbed some cakes, being quite hungry after a sleepless night.
The steward nodded. "Yes, yes, the young lords have been informed of your arrival, they will just clean themselves off a little and head over."
Li Junlong scoffed, but thus was the way of nobles.
He sat down to wait, for several hours, the note from the white hare appeared in his hands, almost subconsciously, but he didn't open it right away, letting his fingers trace the edge hesitantly. Lies or not, he was almost afraid what might be inside before shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the notion. Finally, he tore it open giving it a precursory glance. He suddenly stopped breathing, his hand shook.
"Why didn't they protect us out in the open, did they have something to hide?" He remembered his words to Lin Si.
"No." He whispered. This couldn't be right. There was no way it was right. But if it was…What was he doing? Should he even be here?