Chapter 11 - Honor Among the Poor

Before Lu Na could say anything, Sun Ren dashed forward, slicing her sword through the ram’s flank. Instead of blood, dark spirit energy flowed out. It pooled for a moment on the ground before it dissipated into the air. When she reached the disciple, Sun Ren threw a hard punch and knocked the stunned boy out.

Three more disciples in pale blue uniforms came running over, boxing them in. These were a little older than the boy, but not by much. There were two girls and another boy. Looking at their fallen disciple, each of them summoned their spirits. Now it was six of them against the two women.

Sun Ren stepped back into the alley in front of Lu Na. She took a brief glance at Lu Na before taking the dagger back.

“You’re not ready to use that yet. Do you have any more gadgets we could use?”

Lu Na was staring at the fallen ram. She had been this whole time, mesmerized by how the spirit energy leaked out of its wound like an actual animal. She knew that if she were to make it out of this alive; another idea for an invention jumped into her head.

“Focus, Lu Na. Use your walls.”

Her spirit’s voice made Lu Na reach for her wards. Only one problem, she’d run out. She had no more earthen wall wards. The only ones she had left were the ones that rejected spirit energy or the ones that siphoned spirit energy and turned them into water vapor. Neither were good right now unless one of the spirits wanted to slowly turn into a puddle.

“I’m sorry Sun Ren, but I have no more wards that we can use.” Lu Na reached into her chest pocket and pulled out the spirit wall ward. “This is all I have. It stops the spirits from crossing it.”

Sun Ren glared at the two girls that stood watch as the other boy looked over the fallen disciple.

“Maybe we can talk with them?” Lu Na asked.

“I’m not in a talking mood. But you can try if you want,” Sun Ren said.

Lu Na saw the animosity on Sun Ren’s face. It was the look of a trapped animal with its fangs bared.

Lu Na waved at the two girls standing in front of their peers.

“Can we talk?”

Apparently animosity wasn’t only native to Sun Ren. The two girls also looked like they would jump at Lu Na at any moment.

“I’m not sure why we’re being hunted like this, but I can already tell you are all tired. So are we. Why don’t we put away our spirits and weapons and walk away?”

The taller girl walked forward and spat on the ground by Lu Na’s shoes.

“We were told to capture you, dead or alive. That one over there hurt a few of our fellow disciples. We would like to pay her back for that.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t kill any of you,” Sun Ren said.

“What if I gave you all some money?” Lu Na reached into her money pouch and took out five taels of silver and a ring of coins. “You can have all this if you let us go.”

The taller girl glanced at it before staring at Lu Na’s face.

“How about you two come quietly with us and we promise not to hurt you anymore?”

Lu Na stumbled and dropped her money on the ground. She had also dropped the spirit wall ward she had earlier and activated it when she bent over to pick up her money.

As soon as Lu Na stood up, Sun Ren pounced forward. Her sword flicked out like a bent piece of bamboo. It slapped the taller girl across the face. The shorter girl tried to retaliate, but Lu Na pushed her down to the ground.

Lu Na had no fighting experience, but if all her fights with her younger brother taught her anything, smaller people are still weaker than she was at least. She didn’t need to know how to throw a punch or wield a dagger. She just needed to be bigger.

Sun Ren got up and chased down the other boy. But the boy was ready for her. His spirit, a large dog stopped Sun Ren before she got to him. This time, her sword wasn’t able to cut through it as it did the ram. So Sun Ren ran back, while pulling Lu Na off the shorter girl.

As one, the two Wintersweet disciples sent their spirits at Lu Na and Sun Ren. The smaller girl had a rabbit spirit, only with sharp fangs and wickedly long claws. The only thing that still looked like a rabbit were the ears.

But it didn’t matter. As soon as the two spirits met the spirit wall Lu Na activated, they stopped instantly and fell to the ground. Both of the Wintersweet disciples winced when they saw that. Lu Na wasn’t sure if it was because of watching what happened or if they were connected.

Sun Ren took that moment of distraction to run through again and this time, slicing through both spirits with her sword and dagger. Both of the spirits stayed down with spirit energy leaking out of them.

“That doesn’t look good. I hope they’re okay,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“Why do you care about them? Why not care about us? Do something,” Lu Na said.

“Oh my Na Na, there’s nothing I can do. You’re still too weak as a summoner for me to do much. Just keep running behind the more competent one.”

Of course she meant Sun Ren.

The three Wintersweet disciples dismissed their spirits and charged Sun Ren. This time, they overwhelmed them. Yes, they were younger and smaller than both Lu Na and Sun Ren, but they had youth on their side. And let’s face it, Lu Na knew she didn’t weigh much, as she rarely ate. These younger people were stronger than her.

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It was the hardest scuffle of Lu Na’s life because the shorter girl was not holding back. Unlike the fights with her brothers where they weren’t deliberately hurting each other, this one was punching her in the sides and stomach.

At one point, Lu Na hid her face with her hands as the other started slapping her. It felt like a long time before the shorter girl stopped and was quickly thrown off Lu Na.

Sun Ren had her sword pointed at the three fallen disciples. They looked bruised all over and the boy was holding his hands between his legs.

“I’m done playing nice. The next one that gets up to fight me, I’m going to kill. Now leave.”

The three disciples backed away on their hands and knees from Sun Ren. Soon enough, they all crept out of the alleyway.

“I definitely should have bonded with her instead,” Lu Na’s spirit said.

“Please, no more.” Lu Na wasn’t sure if she said that to her spirit or to her assailant at that point. Or maybe she was saying it was the bad luck that seemed to follow her for the last few days.

Sun Ren dropped her sword and got on her knees. The disciples looked miserable, but Sun Ren looked like a corpse. Dirt and dust caked all over her torn purple dress. Underneath it, her black tunic was showing. She had never changed out of her clothes, unlike Lu Na.

Lu Na sat up and rubbed her hands and sides. She was aching everywhere now. That was her first actual fight and she did not like it. What she would give for a bath and a bed right about now.

“Let’s go before they come back with more people,” Sun Ren said. She propped herself against a wall and lifted herself up. Her limp was much more noticeable as she walked out of the alleyway.

Lu Na dragged herself up and followed Sun Ren.

“Where are we going now?”

Sun Ren looked around.

“We’re too far from Blossom Scent Parlor. We would never make it there with all these Wintersweet disciples out looking for us.”

“Then what if we tried these homes? Maybe someone will help us,” Lu Na said.

“Fine, I hate doing this. We shouldn’t be endangering normal people. But we need a place to rest before we can go to my brother. I don’t think I can walk much after that fight.”

Lu Na nodded. She reached over to Sun Ren and helped her walk.

The first few doors they knocked on had expected results. No one let them in. Some of them slammed their doors on the two women. Lu Na didn’t blame them. They were two injured women that looked like they rolled down several hills while fighting stray cats. If Lu Na saw someone like that, she wouldn’t help them either.

At least the streets were quiet. But that wasn’t right. It was the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Normally there would be children running around, peddlers out selling their wares, and street performers everywhere. Why was it so silent? The only thing they heard was the shuffling of their feet and the occasional breeze that shook the lanterns hanging overhead.

It wasn’t until they walked further before they heard the ting of someone hammering metal. When the two ladies got there, a shirtless man was hammering away at a piece of metal on an anvil. The man didn’t see them until they were standing in front of him. When he did, he laid his hammer down.

“Ladies, are you two okay?” the man asked.

“Do we look okay?” Sun Ren said.

“No, of course not. Let me get my wife to help you two.” The man walked away into the house next to the forge.

“That wasn’t nice,” Lu Na said.

“I don’t care about nice anymore. I’m done with all this. As soon as I get a little water, clean up my wounds, we’re headed to Blossom Scent Parlor to find my brother.”

Lu Na nodded. When she heard Sun Ren, say she was “done with all this,” she feared that Sun Ren would abandon her. She knew that she might have after going through all this and the Wintersweet weren’t even after her. Lu Na didn’t know what she did in the past life to deserve such a friend.

The smith’s wife came out. She was dressed in a brown tunic and dark pants and her hair was tied up in a bun. When she saw the two ladies, she pulled her husband back.

“What are you doing? Don’t you see those two are trouble,” the smith’s wife said.

“They’re injured and they need help. I can’t stand by and watch people suffer,” the smith said. “So either you help them, or I will. I know how you don’t like it when I look at other women. I wonder how you’ll feel when I have to touch these two.”

The wife grumbled.

The smith walked over to the two ladies.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Please come inside.”

Lu Na bowed her head.

“Thank you.” Lu Na hobbled into their home with Sun Ren. It was no better than a mud hut, but at least it was cooler inside out of the sun. Only a small window allowed any sun in. The two ladies walked over and sat down on some mats on the floor. Inside, there were two children, two girls, sitting on a nearby floor cot, staring at the two ladies. They wore plain brown tunics like their mother.

“Hello, I’m Lu Na and this is Sun Ren.”

“Where are your manners? Greet people who greet you. Say hello,” their mother said.

“Hello,” the siblings said in unison.

“Now Ting, go get some water and Dang, go get mommy’s old dresses,” the mother said. “I’ll go find some herbal medicine for your injuries.”

The two girls shot out of the room as fast as an arrow out into the backyard.

“I’ll monitor them,” the smith said.

The mother brought over a small clay jar to the two ladies.

“You two ladies are lucky you got away. I heard a few of my neighbor’s girls didn’t. What is the world coming to when our children can’t play in the streets?” The mother started peeling away Sun Ren’s dress to reach the scrapes she had.

“I didn’t know it became so bad,” Sun Ren said. She winced when the mother rubbed a deep scrape. “I’m sorry. But what is your name? We came barging into your home without asking.”

“I’m Mrs. Gan. My husband is too nice for his own good. Helping strangers off the street like that.”

Lu Na checked her own wounds and felt the bruises on her side and stomach. Luckily nothing came loose and her phoenix hairpin was still in her hair.

The two girls came rushing back in, one with a large bucket of water and the other had two brown tunics. Their father followed behind them.

“My love, are you telling me that if our two daughters got into trouble like them, you’d rather everyone ignore them?” Mr. Gan said. “If we’re always so afraid of trouble, then when will we get help when we need it?”

“I didn’t kick them out, did I?” Mrs. Gan said. “Why don’t you go back to the forge while these two ladies changed? We’ll talk later.”

Mr. Gan nodded and left their home.

“I’m sorry for causing you any hardships,” Lu Na said.

“No, my husband is right. You two ladies looked like you needed help and it would break my heart if my two girls had no one helping them. This might not be enough water to wash off the dirt. I’m going to get some more.” Mrs. Gan left the home.

Soon after, the continuous strikes of metal were heard outside.

Sun Ren took off the outer layer of clothes. She still had the dark red tunic underneath that she wore to Lu Na’s home.

“Why do you still have that on? Isn’t it really hot?” Lu Na asked.

“I’ll show you in a second.” Sun Ren peeled the outer layer off.

Then she took out a dagger from the side of her tunic. She took out two more from the other side. She unwrapped her waist sword and laid it flat on the ground. After a short grunt, she unhooked a patch of leather underneath her tunic and let it sink to the floor.

Sun Ren took a deep breath.

“Much better.”