ReZhui dashed forwards, hesitant that he would fail to make it in time against the potential assailants. He even considered unsheathing his twin Jian but hesitated, and decided otherwise. The teen felt confident that he could hold this off with just his fist.
The stale winds blew past his running form as he sped along the pavement. His black robe flew high above the ground as he propelled himself further. Moments later, ReZhui’s feet screeched to a halt, arriving into a similar street from earlier, filled with rows of fancy restaurants and high-end stores. Already, twelve or so people had gathered with curiosity around this empty street with a few horse-drawn carriages parked along the sidewalks. All of them were bickering with one another and pointed fingers towards the entrance of a relatively small pagoda styled restaurant.
Yet, that was it. The threats and intimidations of those unknown thugs from before; there was no signs of their presence out here, and clearly, the surrounding nobles aren’t alarmed whatsoever.
“...”
Confused at how the situation came to be, ReZhui steadied himself and took a deep breath in.
‘Perhaps I was just overreacting too much. It's unimaginable that a wealthy district such as this would even dare allow lowly bandits to disturb its peace.’
ReZhui thought to himself in the sight of ever growing commotion around him. He shuffled to the side and away from the noble social circles, still deep in contemplation.
‘Unless…’
That’s when an idea came to mind and it wasn’t a good one.
‘Gangsters!’
His thoughts ran wild.
Unfortunately for him, just as ReZhui even considered that possibility, a sudden shatter of wood and glass sounded from the restaurant, spooking everyone around him in immediate distress, including ReZhui. They all instinctively retreated back, as the loud crashes, followed by more gut-wrenching screams of agony, approached closer and faster towards where they stood.
“AIII!”
A passerby lady shrieked in fright, alerting the rest, as a front window cracked forebodingly. Not only that, a bloody fist emerged out of the same window, further shattering the wooden frames before it collapsed entirely and the burly hand made its way back in, undeterred. More gossip erupted from the audience and their distance enlarged significantly.
Meanwhile, watching all of this, ReZhui tried to imagine the actual brawl that’s ensuing right inside there. His face grew a sour expression.
“...”
Taking another step forward to the entrance, ReZhui could never have expected what occurred next.
“...!”
A man, built like a brick wall, was seen flying out of another window and he crashed hard onto the tiled pavement beneath, still entrapped in the broken window frame that came along with him.
Without time to digest what just happened, more screams sounded and several more men were flung out from the establishment. The bronze double door blasted open with such sheer force that each one jerked off from their hinges, crashing loudly onto the side gardens ahead.
For the men present, everyone grimaced at their obviously bloodied state. In total, the thugs numbered an exact nine with the five of them wearing dark orange tunics and the remaining three donning purple robes.
ReZhui, having witnessed all of this happen in mere seconds, simply stood there and came to a confident judgment. Alike the onlookers around the scene, he realised their different codes of clothing, deciding that this was an impromptu dispute between gang groups that rose to harmful levels of severity.
“...”
Nodding back to himself, ReZhui turned to the restaurant. Rather, he was now worried about the potential victims inside that were unfortunate enough to be caught within the crossfire. After all, the brawl inside appeared worse from all that’s happened.
ReZhui strided forward to the stairs of the restaurant.
“YOU BASTARD!”
A gangster cursed out loud.
“...!”
ReZhui immediately turned to face the man. It came from a thug of perhaps, higher ranking amongst his subordinates. Sporting several sword slashes on his wrinkled face and a messy beard, his uniform was of purple and currently, his visible injuries specifically include a black eye and a deep redness across his neck. Multiple stabs and pokes riddled his torso but it seemed that the gangster was still unfazed. Unlike his men who continued to lie weakly on the cement floor, he bravely got back up with a short wobble and a crooked leg.
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“How dare you?! Leave us be for fuck’s sake!”
Exclaimed another senior member of the opposing party of darker orange.
A younger, fitter man with similar injuries, stood up in arrogance and denial. He had a distinct bandana of patterned white and black, and a dislocated nose. Despite their casualties, the two leaders strangely now held no hostility towards one another, despite signs of earlier dispute. The surrounding crowds buzzed away with discussion while ReZhui fell dumbfounded.
Considering he was a step away from the stairs, ReZhui assumed they were referring to him, but that was apparently not the case. Their furious eyes barely even met his and their attention, instead, lying further into the entrance of the restaurant, and their comments would soon be answered.
“NO WAY IN HELL, YOU UNCIVILIZED SCUM!”
“...!”
Alerted, ReZhui faced back to the sound of another voice, and everyone did as well.
For him, it was familiar, and feminine.
A bright, vigorous and higher-pitched voice. It was both adorable, yet foreboding.
“...no way…”
ReZhui smirked at the realization. A part of him really wanted to scowl her for the chaos that unfolded, however, ReZhui felt like he would do the same, albeit with more self-control. It was a much wilder start to their reunion, and he really enjoyed that.
Making way for the center stage, ReZhui stepped aside, just in time for her presence.
Out of the demolished entrance of the restaurant, there appeared a slim teenage girl that was around the age of ReZhui. She walked boldly, stopping at the edge of the stairs as she pointed a rude finger towards the gangsters, beaten black and blue.
“HAND OVER ALL YOUR MONEY FOR REPAIRS AND NEVER RETURN HERE EVERY AGAIN!”
Her petite stature ordered towards the dangerous thugs.
“....”
There were mixed reactions from the people present. The passing nobles found this young lady’s words heroic, childish and brash. On the other hand, the two leader’s minions, including that brute of a man, easily cowered back in fear, ready to give her their money bags.
“What the hell are you guys doing?!” warned the orange leader. Veins popped out of his neck. “We are the infamous Resolute Sand Crew of the Marsh Highlands! How are we listening to the demands of a feeble rich girl?!”
However, no matter how much the young leader would raise his men’s morale, they wouldn’t budge a step forward.
Instead, he got a stern look from the older gangster dressed in purple.
“Resolute Sand, my Vine Cutter Squad calls for a temporary ceasefire.”
“What did you say, old geezer?!”
“As much as I hate your guts, interrupting our treasured lunch…” He cracked his knuckles, “I greatly detest heading back to base, being labelled as swine for losing to a fucking child even moreso!”
The purple man shouted with rage.
“...I see, then, let’s do so, old man. I will rape her once we are finshed beating the shit out of the little highness. I can’t wait to see her beg and lick!”
Eyeing back at him, the young man smiled gleefully.
“...”
Further away from them, ReZhui easily heard their immoral declarations and subconsciously clenched his fist in anger.
‘How dare they talk like that to ShiYan?!’ He cursed from within.
Looking back to where ShiYan was standing, he finally got a clear view of her appearance. While some parts of her clothes became ruffled and roughly folded, it was overall a minor distraction from her otherwise splendid getup for the upcoming occasion.
Dressed in a long, silky Hanfu shirt of magenta and light pink with white patterned illustrations of flowers and butterflies sewn atop and wide baggy sleeves, that reached further down her hips, an inner layer of white and a flowy, embroidered light purple dress that fell from her upper breasts, tightened with a green ribbon, until her ankles, ShiYan presented herself as the representation of youthfulness and casual noble fashion. Her large eyes remained unchanged for the past half decade, and her jaw became more well-defined. The general ovular shape of her face also grew more pronounced. Long, shimmering black hair was thoroughly folded up into a flower bun that ended at a raised ponytail using a shiny hair fastener. Despite her considerable day activities, her skin continued to maintain its admirable pearly white colour, ridden of any noticeable blemishes and dark spots.
“...”
In spite of ReZhui’s long glance at her, ShiYan still hasn’t caught sight of him as her attention was now fully locked onto those thugs.
Upon hearing those words from them, her face darken. She gave them a disgusted expression back.
“...”
Steadily, ShiYan paced herself as she descended the stairs. Her returning glare and loud grinding of her footsteps against the stone steps presented them a threatening display, nearly freezing the both of them in their place. For all their empty talk, they already experienced first hand what her capabilities with her companion were, and paid badly for it. However, if it’s one thing gangsters must hold high on above all else, it would be their overwhelming egos. For all the pain they had as the men stood, it’s their pride that carried them this far from a lowly carrier boy.
“...”
“...”
No matter how much they hesitated, their ‘face’ was ultimately on the line right now.
“Oi, heated dogs, I heard that loud and clear. Must I repeat myself once more before you tuck tail and run?”
ShiYan growled once she reached ground level; on equal footing with the two gang leaders. In the background, the spectators watched on in anticipation and excitement, like one does in rooster fight offs.
“...Bitch,” The young man remarked with a spit, “A dog’s barks worse than their bite. Prepare to take back everything you just said to us with your whole body.”
Following up, the middle-aged man calmly warned her, “Female child, I admit you have some skill, however, that was against one of us. A free for all. But now, we are united.” He readied a fighting stance. “There’s a difference.”
“Well said, old man! ARGHHH!”
The young man also prepared his. His eyes were like that of a tiger.