Author note: Ended up rewriting half the chapter. Initially was going to have it mostly be about Sun Jiao, but it was too depressing. I had way more fun writing this instead and so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Side story....you bet there is.
Also, in case it wasn't clear all those cliffs was to make the other one less obvious. I don't know if it did or not, but I hope it caused some surprise.
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The moon, alone in the sky, sparkled above the Great Stone Mountain Range with such splendor that from afar it would appear as though the mountains were kneeling in worship to the goddess above.
The cold pale light fell upon Fang Yuehai as she descended the mountain path with grace. Fang Yuehai was in no rush as her journey was an unpleasant one. Her brother had left the clan to marry a merchant's daughter and had not sent a message since his departure. Her father didn't think anything was wrong, but Fang Yuehai was worried.
The sense of worry and dread had been with her since she had left and only continued to build with each step that brought her closer to Chengjing city. The feelings had caused her steps to slow as though there was an increasingly heavy weight upon her shoulders.
The two had always been close to each other and there was a familial connection that she could no longer sense. She had thought at first it was the distance, but even as close as she was to the city it still eluded her.
'Perhaps the city walls are to blame' she thought to herself with a frown upon her face.
As if convincing herself she began to quicken her pace, but the weight didn't disappear and only continued to build.
She didn't stop at just walking, instead choosing to break out into a run. She had always been an impulsive child, something she shared in common with her brother. Even now the worries didn't prevent her from acting on her impulse to run. In fact, as the wind blew past her, it helped sweep away the anxiety that plagued her allowing her to be free.
The duplexity of the moment didn't elude her. She smiled at the thought that she was both running from her problems and towards them at the same time. Rather than dwell in torment she chose to find humor in it.
When a new problem appeared in front of her it made her smile even brighter.
"It seems I've arrived sooner than I thought!"
The bandit leader standing in the road was enjoying the sight of a beautiful short haired girl. She had a boyish haircut which framed her cute face, but wore tight hunting leathers that outlined her womanly charm. The combination coupled with the odd greeting caused the bandit leader to only helplessly stammer.
"Uhhh. What?"
Struck by another impulse Fang Yuehai decided to turn the tables.
"Give me all your money or else!" she said with a cheerful, but stern voice.
The bandit leader's jaw dropped open. Slowly he looked towards his fellow bandits as if to confirm they also heard what she had said. Seeing the stupid look on their face he was unable to figure out if they had heard what she said. A stupid look was quite normal for them.
With a shake of his head he decided to confirm it himself.
"What was that?"
Fang Yuehai turned her head and coughed as if to clear her voice. Putting on as deep a tone as possible, but still clearly the voice of a young woman, she spoke again.
"Give me all your money or else!"
The shock was so much that the bandits that had surrounded her had to choke back blood. The shock was so great that one of the bandits hiding in a tree actually collapsed and fell to the ground.
The bandit leader had broken through the First Layer which required a strong mind and was able to maintain his composure.
"Ah...Excuse me little miss I think you may have injured your head..." as a lecherous thought passed through his head he quickly added "perhaps you should come over here and let uncle take a look at it."
Fang Yuehai, as if considering it, rubbed her chin.
"Oh you mean uncle wants to do that!" As she said the last word she made a circle with her thumb and index finger on her left hand and put her index finger on her right hand into the circle. "Well, that would have been fine, only you haven't given me all your money. Tsk tsk! I guess that means you want to give me your life?"
The bandit leader hadn't been thinking of doing that, but now that the girl had said it would be fine he began to drool a bit and it was all he could think of.
"Uh. Money? Of course uncle has money! Of course!"
He quickly pulled out his coin purse; for a beauty like this he'd pay 10 times the amount and only hoped she would be satisfied with his small offering.
"Quick, quick; toss it here!" Fang Yuahai held out her hand expectedly.
The bandit leader quickly tossed the money over and took on the appearance of a dog waiting to be rewarded. Any intelligent person seeing this would have been shocked at the stupidity, but the bandits were all instead praising how lucky the bandit leader had been recently.
Not only had he broken through the First Layer, but he discovered a sword technique from a rather famous bandit that had lived in the area. The sword technique was so famous that every bandit knew it's name.
This had given him and his bandits the confidence to venture out despite the rumors of a merciless royal prince roaming the mountains and murdering defenseless bandits in their sleep.
Catching the bag Fang Yuahai inspected it only to find a few bronze and two silver coins which wasn't very much. Her eyebrow twitched and she thought to herself 'he actually thinks I'm only worth this much!?', but accepted the money anyways.
The coins were a system backed by a commodity. Unlike earth's gold standard this world used spirit stones. Any person that desired it could bring the coins to a royal bank and exchange them directly for spirit stones. Spirit stones could be used to help speed up cultivation, craft magic weapons, or reenforce puppets. Without a doubt spirit stones were the most valuable resource on the planet other than unique cultivation treasures. The exchange rate for a spirit stone and coins was not favorable though so most cultivators above the Second Layer chose to use spirit stones as currency.
Fang Yuahai was disappointed in the money, but comforted herself with the thought that it was for the bandit's life and not her body.
"Hmph. This is acceptable."
Hearing that the bandit leader began to get even more excited and a fire was building in his lower region.
Fang Yuahai pocketed the coins and then began to walk towards the bandit leader with a grace that made him freeze in place.
Now that he had bought the cow and it was time to taste the milk he was starting to get nervous. He had heard that some beauties were so great that a man would not see himself as worthy and be unable to perform. Could it be that he would be one of those men? Would he shame himself in front of this women and his men? Would the deed be done here and now or would they go back to his bandit nest?
More and more thoughts like these went through his head and they began to make him panic. He was confident in his sword skills, but he would be using a different sword in this battle. Sweat was beginning to form on his forehead which caused him even more worry.
As Fang Yuahai got closer he could smell the fragrance of a woman that he hadn't tasted in a long time. Even then it was a common aroma of a peasant woman and not the savory one of a beauty. Though the smell would be considered calming in other situations in this one it only increased the bandit leader's fears as he considered his own smell and found it lacking.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Fang Yuahai was within arms reach now, her white jade arm reached out and moved towards the bandit leader's chest which was heaving as though he had run all day. Placing her hand on his chest she gave a light shove similar in strength to a groom pushing down his newly married wife on their wedding night.
The bandit leader fell backwards and landed on his ass. Completely mindless the bandits starred as Fang Yuahai gave their leader a small smile and continued walking past without a word.
The bandit leader felt relief as he sat on the ground and watched her go. All the nervousness left him and he felt a peace of mind that was only shattered when he realized he'd been tricked and shamed in front of his men.
In a rage he jumped up and drew his sword which caused the remaining bandits to shake from their stupor.
"After her!" he roared as he charged forward.
The entire time he'd fallen into her pace and he realized only now that she had never intended to do anything with him. His face was red with anger and embarrassment as he started to run after her.
"I'll rip you limb from limb but not before enjoying that body of your first! You damn seductive witch!"
Hearing the roar behind her Fang Yuahai let out a laugh that sounded like bells ringing and began to run at a steady pace. She wasn't worried about getting caught as she knew they wouldn't be that strong and so she instead wanted to enjoy the chase.
The bandits quickly caught up with her causing her to increase her pace. If she chose she could have left them in the dust, but instead she allowed them to get close and then sped up while pretending to be worried. This kept the bandits from giving up as they thought she was just within arms reach.
The distance between the two would close and then she'd jump forward and open up space. Close and then far, close and then far. The chase continued for a while and slowly some of the bandits started to fall behind due to exhaustion.
The bandit leader could have used his ki to increase his speed, but wanted to save it for the fight he knew would follow as the lady was obviously a cultivator. He also wanted his men to watch and regain some of the face he lost.
As the bandits started to fall off however he realized he was falling into her pace again. He was determined to catch her at any cost and he began to reenforce his legs with his ki.
At this moment a lonely figure appeared in the distance with its back turned to towards the chase as it walked towards the city.
Fang Yuehai was delighted at the sight as it would add another distraction to her already forgotten worries.
Speeding up she began to yell "Help! Young master please help! These evil men are after me!"
Hearing this the bandit leader couldn't let another man be tricked or let her take the initiative.
He began to yell "Help! Young master this woman has stolen from us! Do not be deceived by her words she's a trickster and a cheat!"
Sun Jiao had been in a foul mood since he began his return to the city. He decided to ignore the yelling and continue on, but the words he heard next caught his attention causing him to stop.
"How shameless! I only took money from one of you! What is this US you speak of! I didn't steal anything from the rest of you dirty shameless men and even the money I took was compensation for you having stopped me!"
Fang Yuahai had turned her head around to yell and didn't notice Sun Jiao had stopped. She turned back around and almost collided with him, but managed to stop just in front of him.
He reached out, grabbed her shoulders and then said to the men behind her with a smile; "I caught the thief for you."
The smile on Fang Yuahai's face changed from happy to worried. She tried to break free, but his grip was too strong. She had thought he was joking, but now she began to worry.
'Is he really going to side with those dirty bandits over a beauty like me!?!'
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No more squeaks, from now on I'll translate the squeaking. Also any time Jai cho talks remember it's actually the flame spirit talking.
Side story;
Jia Cho tried to remain calm.
It had been several days since he infiltrated the New Blood gang in order to discover the perpetrator who controlled the beatle god to kill his family and he was still no closer to the mastermind.
He had heard rumors of a RatFather that was uniting all the rat gangs, but they were just rumors and speculations.
The female rat, Tress, had introduced him to the gang and often visited him in an attempt to cling to his power.
He had rebuffed her advances so far as they would be but a distraction.
Today Tress arrived again and brought a muscular rat with her.
"This the one?" the muscular rat spoke.
"Yes. He'll make a fine addition!" Tress squeaked.
"If you say so. You come with me!"
Jia Cho hadn't been required to do anything for the gang just yet so he was eager to show his worth as it would help him rise up in the gang and get access to more information.
Tress was worried Jia Cho might misunderstand and quickly squeaked up.
"This is my brother. He's a boss rat in the Red Ribbon Squad."
"The Red Ribbon Squad?"
"Yes. They are the main force our New Blood gang uses to control our area. They go by many names Red Ribbon Squad, Red Ribbon Force, Red Ribbon troop, Red Ribbon Battalion, and so on."
"Not army?"
The large rat interrupted; "Are you stupid? Who would call it an army? That's a terrible name for a group."
Tess squeaked up quickly; "He's not stupid! You're stupid Tony! I think it's a wonderful name!"
Tony looked at Tess with surprise which caused her whiskers to twitch in embarrassment.
"Oh so it's like that? Huh. Well look at that. I guess we need to test him."
Jia Cho felt a headache coming on.
Tony quickly launched an attack with his right claw that Jia Cho met with his horn.
Just before the attacks landed however Tony pulled back and spun which caused his tail to whip around forming a phantom image of a dragon tail that struck out at Jia Cho.
"OH NO THAT'S HIS FINISHING MOVE DRAGON TAIL! WATCH OUT!" Tess squeyelled...
Caught unaware Jia Cho decided to reveal his trump card as he needed to join the Red Ribbon Company.
A strength of a king burst out and a power he had only recently awakened appeared. The kingly force took the form of a ghostly three-tailed, one-eyed, four horned, six winged, bull and slammed into the phantom dragon tail causing Tony to blast out the door of the dirt room.
Tess was shocked! Tony was in the top ten of the Red Ribbon Division rankings. Jia Cho was attacked by surprise and still managed to win.
She dropped down on her four legs and ran around him a few times before stopping next to him. Her tail brushed against him and she moved closer.
Seeing Jia Cho not react she moved close enough that their sides were touching and rubbed her fur against him to leave her scent.
Now that Jia Cho knew she had a high ranking officer for a brother he decided to allow her to get close to him. His heart was still cold from losing his wife however so it wouldn't be too close.
Tony staggered in and looked at Jia Cho with awe in his eyes. He didn't mind that Jia Cho was currently taking certain advantages with his sister; in fact such strength would be a wonderful addition to the family.
"You're a damn impressive rat Jia Cho. Let's go get you signed up with the Red Ribbon Platoon.