Chapter 27: Agents

Suddenly, the man stood up. He took several steps toward the woman; she shivered, then rose her face to him, then shrank back, then crossed her hands. There were changes at his every step. Finally, the man's fist gently connected with her head.

The girl squeaked and put hands on her crown. Her tears were shining like jewels. Now her reversed smile looked sad.

"Stop being retarded or I'll abandon you in the woods." He said and sat down. The girl, slowly, too.

"So, when will your master going to return?" He asked, looking at Xin.

"A… Soon." Said the boy, changing his line of sight. The next second the man also looked at the direction of the tree but saw nothing.

"Don't revert your eyes. I'm... suspicious of you as of now, what if you a beast in human form? I will wait until he returns, and we'll talk for a bit." He said.

For the next several minutes, there was an annoying silence disturbed only by overly dramatic sobs of the girl, louder with each second.

…

Xin himself was getting impatient. He felt like standing up and walking around but didn't want to attract the eyes of the man. His feet burrowed into the ground.

At last, with another rustle, Ying Zheng stepped into the light of the formation. He held a large deer on his shoulders.

"Funny party you've got, kid."

He said throwing the carcass on the ground.

"So, kid, Introduce me to your new friends." He smiled and blinked, and Xin was sure that blink meant to be obvious.

"I'm…" The girl suddenly lit up and almost said something when a fist once more descended on her head.

Very quietly she retreated to cry in the corner.

"We are travelers, now more. And you are?"

"Also travelers." Ying Zheng grinned. "So, fellow travelers, do you want something, a piece of deer perhaps?"

"No," The man said. "Just to make acquaintance." He held out his hand and Ying Zheng shook it.

Xin, feeling some pressure in the air, looked back. The girl was somehow behind him.

"He's a terrible person." She leaned and whispered.

"..." Xin bitterly smiled.

"Well then." Ying Zheng was first to break the shaking.

"So you won't join dinner?"

"No, it's time for us to go." The man stood up.

"Just one more question, do you know what has happened here? The village is devastated."

"Maybe a strife between beast tribes or something. Who can say."

Shrugged Ying Zheng.

"Really, and you don't afraid that attackers may return at some point?"

The man brushed ashes from a broken skull with his foot.

"You even left your disciple alone."

"Thanks for your concerns!" Said Ying Zheng as insincerely as possible.

"But I'm more than confident."

The man smiled at him.

"I see, hope you aren't wrong. We'll get going."

He headed out of the village to the woods where he came from. The girl followed him and almost said something before entering the forest, but he caught her and soon their silhouettes dissolved in the darkness.

"How irritating." Ying Zheng's voice was only loud enough to attract Xin's attention.

"Well, disciple, It's time to sleep. Have a good night."

Xin saw an obviously fake smile on his face; seems like they are still putting on this act. Ying Zheng sat down and a shiny layer of green light covered his body.

"…" Well, whatever. He probably knows what he is doing. The boy gave the last look at the tree and laid down.

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"Good night." He thought before falling asleep.

…

...

...

The sunlight and shiver went through the darkness; Wei Xin became aware, his eyelids separated. Something thin was crawling on his face. He caught it with his fingers: a little beetle. The boy put it on the ground and sat up.

"Quite a late sleeper, aren't ya?" Ying Zheng was sitting with his chin on his palm; he had a bored look on his face and his eyes were looking somewhere beyond Xin.

"Seems like they finally gave up."

"Who are they?"

"Imperial Agents, annoying flies. They knew I knew they were observing, but still went on with it. Simply to annoy me, it seems. Can't wait until the minister will change and they will be purged."

"Imperial Agents…" Xin knew some things about them. A branch of Empire's Intelligence, Winged serpents, eyes of the Emperor; they had some bad reputation.

"Why are they here?" He asked.

"Probably finally got the wind of the brewing war. Sometimes they work with the military, though I'm not sure."

"I see."

Xin looked around: trees and burned ground.

"Ah yes, the hag. Forgot about it, time to set her free."

He stood up, stretched and walked to a tree just at the edge of the forest. He touched it lightly and the tree trembled, some leaves feel down.

Suddenly, its trunk opened like a mouth, revealing a girl beautiful like a doll inside. Her eyes opened and she jumped out. Her hair, which looked like they were stuck in the branches, went free with unexpected smoothness.

"What took you so long?" She asked glaring at Ying Zheng.

"I've freed you once they've left, or maybe not. Stop looking at me like that."

Then her eyes turned at Xin, her pupils shined with yellow.

"Is he telling the truth?" Appeared in his mind.

"No." Pure-white bleak shine blinked in Xin's eyes.

He still hasn't achieved the First Rank of The Demonic Light but has already gained some control over his soul light. That way he and Maha were speaking the previous night.

"Stop doing that." Said Ying Zheng with annoyance.

"I feel like you don't trust me, it's problematic."

"It is hard to trust someone who uses children as baits."

Said Maha in scolding tone.

Yesterday, when Ying Zheng heard the approaching "travelers", he immediately hid with Maha because, by his own words, "If they were hostile we would've had more chances in battle by ambushing."

So Xin became a bait.

"And before you start, I saw the apple was poisoned, but I also saw that the poison wasn't dangerous. I couldn't just come out 'cause the blue girl was monitoring the trees. Not that It would've been hard to deal with her, but there would've been too many problems if I've done that."

"But enough with that, we have to speed up; let's pass the animal's land before everything will burst."

Xin nodded. No one wants to get caught in a war zone. He still remembered some stuff he was taught about the Colonization War. It felt so distant before, like a picture: burned corpses, massacres, nothing but a vision. He knew it was bad, he knew how it was, but only now, seeing the blackness inside eye sockets, feeling the smell of ash he really understood. They have to speed up.

"I might know how we can skip some distance." Maha said thoughtfully.

Both the man and the boy looked at her.

"Should've said earlier." Complained one of them.

…