The rain of lightning seemed to have no end.
Lin Songmei was convinced. If anyone could harness the power of a heavenly tribulation, they could solve energy as a societal issue forever.
After what seemed to be an eternity, the tribulation let up, the clouds began to dissipate and the bolts of lightning gave way, revealing a... very beat up Liu Xueli.
Her previous confident demeanor no more, Xueli, still sitting cross-legged on the now shattered pavement, had blood leaking from her mouth and her nose. Her clothes were ripped, but not too ripped, they still covered everything important.
Songmei fell quiet. Beside her, Yan Mingqing was silent as well, her expression in full-on ice queen mode.
Watching some elders from the medical department swarm over Xueli like a cloud of worried middle-aged parents, Songmei was happy. It meant... it meant that there wasn’t any danger.
However, under the care of the medical team, Xueli continued to cough up blood as she was scooped up and put onto a sitting stretcher. Strapped onto the stretcher, Xueli tried to wave the people around her off, but under the orders of the sect leader, Xueli was sent away.
“Go! Back! Home!” Tu Weiping ordered with a hardened expression, his voice overpowering all the other murmurs and whispers that were happening. “Elder Liu, I don’t care if you ‘are young so it’s fine’ or that you ‘feel fine’, go home and rest!”
“Sect Leader sure is forceful right now...” Mingqing whispered to Songmei, a small laugh escaping her lips, “I would have never thought Sect Leader could be this stern. He’s usually quite the laid-back person... frolics around and watches every movie that sniffs a release.”
Coughing to conceal a laugh, Songmei nodded, craning her neck as she watched Xueli shaking her fist, protesting as she was carried away. “Maybe the Sect Leader has a split personality...”
“Maybe...” Mingqing joked with a twinkle in her eye, only to be cut off by Tu Weiping’s announcement and aggressive arm waving.
“Why are you all still standing around? HAH?! Do you all enjoy staring at shattered pavement? If you enjoy it so much just go look at my destroyed base in the bricklaying game! The event is over! Go home!”
There we go.
Songmei let out a sigh of relief, the sect leader was back, back to his loud, informal self.
Good to know that the Sect Leader hadn’t been possessed. Critical information.
Turning around and shuffling out of the courtyard with the rest of the crowd, Songmei grabbed onto Mingqing’s hand as the two began to walk back home. On the way back, squeezing Mingqing’s hand, Songmei tapped her chin as she stared at the sky that was covered in a layer of white clouds once more. “Do you think we should get something for Xueli?”
“I think that’d be nice,” Mingqing agreed as they weaved through the dispersing crowd. “Any ideas on what to get then? I was thinking maybe some soup, it’s always good to drink something warm on a cold day, especially after something like getting struck by a bazillion bolts of lightning.”
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“Ahk-” Songmei squawked, resembling a chicken as she froze for a second before continuing to walk forward. “I was thinking we could get something like a bag of koi feed... but your idea sounds much better for sure...”
Turning away to hide her laughter, Mingqing pulled Songmei along, crossing a bridge to the island that had the canteen. “It’s fine~ Your idea is great! We can get both for sure, I’m sure Xueli won’t mind either way.”
-----
Pushing the door open to the residence, Songmei and Mingqing made their way in. Songmei carried a bag of koi feed and Mingqing carried a tray full of food.
Songmei felt a weird itch in her heart as she walked in, the courtyard lights were all off, the rocking chair empty, and the koi... well the koi were just swimming as always. Songmei flicked on the lights, basking the courtyard and wooden walkway in warm light once more, it was still light outside, it wasn’t even mid-afternoon yet, but it just felt wrong when the lights were off.
Leading the way as Mingqing’s hands were full, Songmei knocked on the door to Xueli’s private room, asking if they could be let in.
With an energetic yes, Songmei and Mingqing made their way in, getting greeted by the perpetual disaster that was Xueli’s room.
“We got you some stuff!” Mingqing smiled as they walked over towards Xueli who was sitting in bed reading a book. “Are you feeling okay?”
Watching Mingqing walk in front of her and greet Xueli with beaming enthusiasm, Songmei couldn’t help but admire how much Mingqing had opened up to Xueli.
The ice queen got replaced by the spring queen!
... Songmei was pretty sure that wasn’t how it worked but she’d roll with the analogy...
As she walked in, Songmei looked over towards Xueli, noticing a few things, even under the dim light.
Xueli seemed healthy, there was a little bit of color returning to her face, and she was sitting up in bed reading a book. Her short hair seemed to be a little messy, understandable though after she took a shower using lightning for water...
The main thing was though... Xueli seemed younger!
... like... really younger...
Xueli’s skin was much more supple and smooth, she seemed to have de-aged by... more than a few years. If she stood side-by-side with Songmei and Mingqing, Xueli could probably pass for a true older sister now...
Deciding not to comment on it though, Songmei set the bag of koi feed down beside Xueli’s bed before massaging her wrist that had become sore once more, “I... uhh... got you some more koi feed, since you were running low last night...”
“And for me, I got you some food!” Mingqing added, setting the tray down on Xueli’s lap after Xueli moved the book to her nightstand, “Here’s two different types of soup, a bowl of rice to go with it, and then some steamed buns. Just some light food.”
Xueli put a hand to her chest, wiping a tear from her eye as she picked up the spoon to drink some soup. “Thank you! You two disciples are so wonderful~ Thank you for the concern, but no need to worry about me too much. I’ll be fine after a while of bedrest... my internal state is a mess right now though.”
As her words left her mouth though, Xueli began to cough, picking up a tissue as red flecks began to appear as coughs racked her body.
“A-... Are you sure you’re alright?” Songmei asked, her eyes shaking a little as she watched Xueli cough up everything in her body. Songmei swore she saw half of Xueli’s internal organs along with her soul escaping her mouth just now...
Her hand waving the two’s worries off and her other hand throwing away the now bloody tissue, Xueli gave a gentle smile while ruffling the hair of her two worried disciples kneeling beside her bed. “I’ll be fine, there’s no need to worry about me~ The day I need you two to take care of me will be a sad day indeed, but that day is not today, nor is it in the near future, so don’t worry.”
“Anyhow,” Xueli murmured, sipping some of the soup and letting out a relaxed sigh, “As promised, now is when you’ll get the details on the journey you two will be taking outside. It’s good timing, since I won’t be able to help you for a while if you stay in the sect, after all.”