Chapter 10 - Scary Inventions

The tunnel was long. The walls were roughly made. And the only sound they heard was their own breathing. It didn’t help that it smelled like stale air, as if no one had come through here in a while.

“I wonder how long this goes on,” Lu Na said.

“Magistrate Hu said it should go out of the city. I wonder if there is more than one route. I don’t like how anyone knows where we are going, especially that magistrate.”

“You don’t trust him do you?”

“No. While you were changing, I sent my spirit to check on Magistrate Hu. He was meeting with the Wintersweet Sect. At first I thought he was negotiating with them, but after you told me he used his summoner skill on my food, I knew he was working with them. Why else would my wound burn the moment I ate that lotus root?”

“Oh.” Lu Na didn’t know that was going on. No wonder Sun Ren was so hostile to him. Now she understood why she took Magistrate Hu’s son hostage. “What do we do now?”

Sun Ren paused.

“I hate to say this, but I think I have to find my brother. He’s probably the only one that can help us. And now that I know that Magistrate Hu is working with the Wintersweet Sect, there’s no doubt that he’s going to also be coming after us. I took his son hostage and I doubt he’s going to let that go, especially while my father is gone. But even if he wants to, as long as my brother’s contingent is still here, he can protect us.”

“That sounds like a plan. Why didn’t we go to him in the first place?”

Even in the tunnel’s dark, Lu Na could see Sun Ren scrunch up her face. It looked like it pained her to think of her brother. Not even when they were attacked, did she look like that.

“It’s because my brother has always looked down on me.” Sun Ren continued limping along the tunnel.

“That’s unfortunate. My brother has always supported me,” Lu Na said.

Sun Ren smiled ruefully.

“If my brother had you as his sister, he would be happy. He would like nothing more than a little sister he can protect and one who would follow him like an idol as you do your brother. But no, my brother can’t stand how successful I am at doing everything he can even though I’m a woman. I’m not some little girl that needs protection and I think he resents that.”

Lu Na hadn’t thought about it that way. She was sad for Sun Ren to have a brother like that, but would her own brother be like that? She had a feeling that even if she was as strong as Sun Ren, Lu Fengxian would still treat her the same in supporting her.

“See, I told you your brother is not only handsome, but so nice to you. He doesn’t have to take care of you like that, you know,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

After walking a while longer, they felt a cool breeze entering the tunnel.

“It looks like there are different exits in this tunnel,” Sun Ren said. They had stopped at a fork zthat went in three directions.

“Which way do we go?” Lu Na asked.

“Well, my brother is still in the city so let’s not go too far. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get back in without Magistrate Hu arresting us. But if he’s working with the Wintersweet Sect, he’ll most likely have every exit covered, waiting for us either way.”

“Maybe we should split up? I can try to find my brother as well.”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. I like your brother as he’s a formidable fighter, but he is still Magistrate Hu’s underling. He won’t be able to protect you. We should stick together.”

Lu Na nodded. Together, they chose a random tunnel and followed it through. It wasn’t as long as the original tunnel, as it soon came to an opening. But they didn’t need to get out to realize that there were already people waiting for them.

“I can’t see how many are there, but I think I can take them,” Sun Ren said. She unsheathed her sword from her waist.

“One of these days you’re going to have to get me one of those and teach me how to use that,” Lu Na said.

Sun Ren chuckled.

“You don’t want to know the grueling exercises I had to do to learn this weapon. But sure, if you’re serious I’ll teach you. Are you ready?”

“Wait, I think I have a better idea of how to get around them.” Lu Na reached into her chest pocket and pulled out a small firecracker that had a light ward attached to it.

“You’re full of surprises aren’t you? But I don’t think a small firecracker is going to hurt them.”

“Of course not. But remember the light ward I used earlier? Now imagine that, but with the explosiveness of a firecracker. This one took me a long time to get right.”

“You’re going to blind them?” Sun Ren stared at the small firecracker in Lu Na’s hand.

“Well, I hope not. It’s not so powerful that it would blind someone. I made it one year because the firecrackers that they used for New Years weren’t as bright in the sky. I wanted to make them so bright that you could see it outside of the city.”

“How many of those do you have?”

“Just the one. My brother told me it wasn’t safe to carry these on me like that. If they ever caught fire, I would probably crackle and pop.”

Sun Ren sheathed her sword.

“Then a minor change of plans then. When you throw that out there to blind them, I’ll turn us into fox pups to run away.”

“You can do that?”

“Oh, you’re going to love it. The first time I changed into one, I ran for the whole day.”

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“Why can’t my spirit do something like that?”

“Little girl, you have no idea what I can do for you. Be happy that I stay with you at all,” her spirit said.

“I don’t think you should discount your spirit. It can do so many things that strong summoners have to practice for years to do. Not every summoner can see spirit energy as you do nor are they able to manipulate it like that. When we get out of here, we are going to explore that and maybe my sifu can help you develop your talents.”

“Maybe I should have bonded with her. She seems like she’d appreciate the talents and skills I provide.”

Lu Na ignored her spirit.

“I would like that. My father never helped me with any of that. He only did it for his boys.”

“Hah, maybe I can be your sifu. But I’m not qualified. I’m only qualified to be your friend.”

Hearing that made Lu Na happy. She had never had a friend like Sun Ren. She didn’t have many friends. Maybe her brother was right. She didn’t need her father’s approval or attention. She only needed others in her life.

“Are you ready?” Sun Ren asked.

Lu Na nodded.

“When you throw the firecracker out there, I’m going to transform us. In case we get separated, my brother is staying at the Blossom Scent Parlor. It’s in the eighth district.”

“Got it, eighth district,” Lu Na repeated. She picked up the firecracker and looked at the fuse.

“Let’s hope you don’t burn yourself this time,” her spirit said.

Lu Na would not do that again. She was smarter this time. She made sure the fuse was longer so that she had more time to throw it. And if her spirit stopped distracting her all the time, maybe she could do it without burning herself.

Lu Na reached into her chest pocket and pulled out her flame stick. She took off the cap and blew into it until there was a small ember inside.

“You carry a flame stick?” Sun Ren asked. “I thought I was prepared.”

Lu Na smirked.

“Why carry a firecracker without fire? I can’t just pull the fire spirit energy from the air and use it to light things.”

“Why not? I’ve seen you do amazing things with that spirit wand.”

That was an idea for the future. She had tried to manipulate the spirit energy with the spirit wand before, but without an actual technique or skill from the spirits or summoners, she didn’t know how to combine it into something. And fire spirit energy was not fire. It set nothing on fire. She tried.

“Do you know anything about that, spirit?” Lu Na said.

“That’s something you’re going to have to discover. I can’t tell you everything.”

“Are you ready?” Sun Ren asked.

Lu Na must have been staring at the firecracker for too long. She had burned herself a few times and they were still fresh in her mind. Her mother had told her that if she played with fire, she was going to get burned. But her mother also told her, getting burned is not the worst thing when progress is made.

“Let’s do this. You might want to look away when it goes off.” Lu Na blew on the fire stick until it caught on fire. She was glad that the ember within was still working. She feared it would have been out by now.

With a lit firecracker, Lu Na waited a second or two before she tossed it outside of the tunnel. The fuse was the only bright thing that caught the attention of the people guarding the exit.

Lu Na saw the people look at the firecracker, puzzling what or who threw it. When they turned to look into the tunnel, it was too dark for them to see. Seconds later, a loud pop was followed by a large, blinding light. There were a few yelps and possibly screams, but that was their cue.

Sun Ren grabbed Lu Na by the arm and in seconds, the world around them shifted.

Everything seemed a lot taller and out of reach. Yet Lu Na’s eyes could shift to see the darkened tunnel easier than before. She wanted to speak, but realized she couldn’t. What was going on?

“Ooh, nothing,” her spirit said. “It appears that you’re now one of us. A spirit. But you should pay attention to Sun Ren beside you and start running with her.”

“Your spirit is right,” Sun Ren’s voice came into her head. “I can’t hold this spirit form for too long, especially when I’m doing it for someone else. Follow me and keep close.”

Lu Na saw a white fox pup in front of her, bounding forward toward the tunnel’s exit. She tried to walk and realized that she was on all fours. She couldn’t believe that her hands were now furry paws.

“Move, Lu Na. Or else Sun Ren will leave you,” her spirit said.

Lu Na looked back up and true enough, the other fox pup was almost to the exit already. She ran after her and found that running on all fours felt natural. It was an exhilarating feeling that she never felt before as the air seemed to rush past her. In seconds, she caught up with Sun Ren.

The light from outside hit Lu Na first and out of instinct she wanted to close her eyes. But she realized her eyes adjusted right away with no issues.

Sun Ren had already run around the Wintersweet disciples who were still recovering from the blast.

Both of them made it around the corner out of their view in seconds. They were still inside the city. It was a part of the city that Lu Na had never been before. Everywhere there were red lanterns hanging in anticipation of the Mid-Autumn festival, but all the houses were much closer together. Calling them houses was being generous as they looked nothing more than mud huts.

Sun Ren turned the corner.

“They’re over here!” a Wintersweet disciple yelled behind them.

Lu Na ran so fast. How did they catch up to them?

“Short, stubby paws. And you are as white as snow in this dusty, dirty place. They’re not stupid.”

Wait, did her spirit just answer her?

“Oh, you’re a spirit now. I can hear your thoughts as easily as if you spoke them.”

That was going to have to take some getting used to. Lu Na wasn’t used to her spirit hearing her thoughts, especially as she had thought about a few negative things over the years.

“We can talk about this later, but this is a skill only higher-level summoners can do. Focus on following Sun Ren.”

Lu Na didn’t need to, as Sun Ren had stopped. They were stuck in a dead-end alley. After a few seconds, Sun Ren had turned back into a young woman.

Lu Na felt the change as well. She grew in size and felt everything shift into place. Her cute furry paws became her delicate hands and the afternoon light became dull. And the smells suddenly disappeared. She didn’t think about it while she was a fox, but scents were stronger before. It almost felt like she could really smell something for the first time in her life.

Luckily, that stopped as filth and dirt surrounded her.

Sun Ren turned to face the Wintersweet disciples that followed them.

“This is going to be a hard fight. Here, take this.” Sun Ren pulled out a dagger from her thigh and handed it to Lu Na.

It was a slim dagger. Had she been wearing that this whole time since last night when she arrived at Lu Na’s home? More importantly, what was she going to do with it? Lu Na did not know how to use a dagger any more than a spear that her brother used. She wasn’t sure she should hold it as wouldn’t that invite her attackers to be more aggressive with her since she’s armed?

The first Wintersweet disciple walked into the alley with a smirk. The boy was younger than the two women, still growing in puberty. His pale blue uniform hanging loosely on him. He made a fist with his left hand and a large ram appeared beside him. It was orange all over with large, curved wicked horns.

“Ooh, that one is dangerous. How are you going to get out of this one?” her spirit said.

Lu Na screamed, “Help me then!” in her head. But the spirit never replied. For the first time, she cursed her father for never bothering to teach her to be a fighter and cursed herself when her brother tried to teach her self defense. What good was fighting to a young miss like her? She was going to learn now.

This lesson was going to be very costly.