Author's Note: Yay! Two chapters today! It probably won't happen again for a while as I have tests coming up, but I will try to write as much as I can. :)
Yu Lin took in a sharp intake of air as she opened her eyes. She sat up and placed her hand over her stomach, however she could no longer feel the two different chi energies fighting within her, as she only felt her purple chi energy. She sighed, relief, however then frowned as she somehow felt as if she had somehow leveled up and became stronger.
“Yu Lin!” She heard her mother’s voice and looked up. Yo Mei left the circle as she ran up to her. Yo Mei slid on her knees as her wrapped around her daughter tears gushing down her cheeks. “My daughter, my precious daughter. Mama thought mama had lost you.” She cried. Yu Lin froze not knowing how to react, before she wrapped her arms around Yo Mei’s body.
“I am alright, mama. I am alright.” She whispered into her ear. From behind her Yu Lin could hear heavy footsteps. She then felt rough arms wrapping themselves around her and Yo Mei.
“Aahh!” A deep voice cried out from behind her. The voice started to mutter undecipherable sounds which caused Yu Lin to laugh out loud. Yo Mei also started to laugh as she saw snot trailing out of her husband’s nose.
“Yu Lin.” Yu Lin heard Chief Chu behind her. Chou stopped crying as he and Yo Mei moved away from Yu Lin. Yu Lin picked herself off the ground and turned around. She saw Chief Chu standing there smiling at her, his forehead shiny from sweat. Ju Hua and Sen Feng also showed up behind him smiling even though their complexion showed exhaustion. “Are you feeling better now?” He asked. Although Chief Chu was smiling in front of them, the truth was he was the most exhausted as he had exerted the most chi energy to help Yu Lin.
“Yu Lin, answer Chief Chu. He was the one who helped you.” Yo Mei said to Yu Lin. Yu Lin’s heart swelled with emotions and she breathed out heavily trying not to cry.
“I.. am fine. I am well.” She replied. Chief Chu nodded his head with a smile.
“Then, all is good.” Chief Chu walked up to her and gave her a pat on the head. Yu Lin deeply bowed her head towards Chief Chu, Ju Hua, and Sen Feng. When she saw the engravings on the floor her face showed shock, however she continued with what she was going to do.
“I, Du Yu Lin, thank all you for helping me. No matter what, I promise to repay this kindness of yours.” Yu Lin said sternly. The three of them looked at her shocked, however smiled.
“I guess you can repay me by becoming my servant.” Sen Feng said with a light tone. Yu Lin looked up and glared at him.
“You weren’t included in the all that I mentioned.” She said back.
“Yah!” Sen Feng’s face grew red.
“Yu Lin!” Yo Mei exclaimed, however couldn’t help but laugh at the same time. The room exploded with laughter as the heavy mood turned into a light one.
Ju Hua and Sen Feng returned to their chambers to rest as Chief Chu, and Yu Lin’s parents escorted her to her room. They made sure that she changed, and laid in her bed before leaving her alone. Chief Chu then escorted the two to a guest room, and they sat around table sipping tea.
"Mr and Mrs Du, I have something very important I want to discuss with the both of you." Chief Chu announced.
"What is it?" Chou asked. Chief Chu cleared his throat and then bowed his head.
"Please, let Yu Lin continue to stay here." Chief Chu knew asking this may be too much to Yu Lin's parents however he saw her potential and he wanted her to get even stronger.
"Bu-" Yo Mei wanted to protest however Chou raised his hand up.
"Of course." He answered sternly. Chief Chu raised his head and his eyes widened in shock. He had not expected them to agree so fast, and as he was preparing things to stay to convince them.
"Honey!" Yo Mei placed her hand on Chou's shoulder, however Chou's eyes were determined. Although he may have been a troll with low intelligence, he trusted his gut feelings, and his gut feeling this time was to let Yu Lin stay with Chief Chu. He knew she would be safer here with the chi energy gathering practice and also because of Chief Chu's wisdom. If Chief Chu hadn't asked them to let Yu Lin stay, Chou would've asked Chief Chu instead. Yo Mei sighed and did not say anymore for she knew that her husband, though kind and understanding, was also stubborn in certain aspects. Chief Chu bowed to the two politely.
"Thank you. I will train her to the best of my abilities." Chief Chu was serious in what he was saying. He looked up at the two and cleared his throat again. "There is also another matter I wish to discuss." He quickly said.
"What is it?" Yo Mei asked.
"I want the both of you to start living here together with your daughter, with me." He said with a gentle smile. Both their eyes widened and Yo Mei quickly shook her head.
"It's alright. We are comfortable where we are." She said.
"No. It is not right for you guys to be separated from your daughter for so long. You guys have helped this village so much and didn't even asked for anything back. This is the least I can do for the two of you." Chief Chu gave them another bow.
"It's alright. You have your family members here and it would be rude of us to take their chambers."
"It's fine. Most of my son are either out traveling, or cultivating on their own. It is rather lonely around here. I also think that Ju Hua needs a female friend to chat with apart from Yu Lin." Chief Chu insisted. Yo Mei thought about it. She did want to stay closer to Yu Lin, however she did not want the villagers to think badly of her and Chou. No matter how much good they did to help the village, there would always be people who will find some sort of flaw about them. 'What should we do?' She thought. Chou saw the conflicted expression on her face and decided to answer for the both of them. He knew what she really wanted in her heart and he wanted her to be happy.
"We will be troubling you then." Chou blurted out. Yo Mei turned and looked at Chou.
"Honey!"
"It's fine. We both miss Yu Lin very much." Chou reassured her. Yo Mei furrowed her eyebrows and then bowed her head.
"We shall be troubling you then, Chief Chu." She said politely. Chief Chu smiled and the three of them sipped their tea. Yo Mei had many questions she wanted to ask Chief Chu but she was not sure if she should ask, or keep silence. Chief Chu looked up and saw her conflicted expression. He let out a sigh.
“What’s wrong Mrs. Du?” He asked her. Yo Mei bit took in a deep breath before she muster up her courage.
“Why do you have a chi energy gathering circle?” Yo Mei asked carefully. Chief Chu had expected this question and he was prepare to answer it.
“28 years ago... I stole it,” He answered her, “because I stole of that, I almost lost the ability to continue training in martial arts.”
“Stole it? That whole board?” Yo Mei exclaimed. Chief Chu nodded.
“What did you mean you almost lost your abilities?”
“I had found it inside a cave when I was traveling in the Sun continent. It gave off a powerful aura and I carved it out of the cave. Afterwards the man who I stole it from chased me for days through two continents. I was tired of being chased so when I finally reached the Middle Continent I hid it. I wanted to confront the man because I thought I could beat him, however I was wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Yo Mei asked. Chief Chu looked down a painful expression on his face.
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“He was very strong. He defeated me in seconds and when I still refused to tell him the location. He sliced my calves all the way down to my chi veins. He then left me isolated, and alone.” Chief Chu could remember the malicious smile on the man’s face. “It was a good thing that I was lying on the border of the Middle Continent and Sky Continent. If it wasn’t for that, I would not be alive right now. It is one of the things I regret the most, however I am glad that today we were able to use it to help Yu Lin.” His expression brightened as he smiled at the two.
“It is one of the lost practices of this whole world. Martial artists searched for a way to create these chi energy gather circles.”
“I know… I know how martial artists have abused this practice.” Chief Chu let out a sigh.
When the first chi energy gathering circles were created, they were created with the intention of helping others with shattered chi centers and mixed creatures like eltos. It was created for the intention of helping recover or refined the chi centers and chi energy. Instead of that happening though, people abused the chi energy gathering circles. They would forcefully open someone’s pressure points, and force their bodies to be in the medium sized circle while they would go into the huge circle. Doing this they could absorb that person’s chi energy and get stronger without having to train. Scholars who saw this happening burned all knowledge of the chi energy gathering circle, and soon the practice was lost.
Chief Chu had done his research about the chi energy gathering circles for when he took it, he had no idea what it was, but after realizing its full potential he was cautious and never showed it to anyone. It was also one of the reasons he didn’t want to leave Glorious Forest, for he had not found a way to destroy the chi energy gather circle.
“Who did you steal it from? Do you know?” Yo Mei wanted to know what kind of person was able to create such a thing. Chief Chu shook his head.
“I am not sure about his name, but I definitely know what he looks like.” Chief Chu said a fierce look in his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“The person I stole it from... was a dark elf. I only heard his name once when he introduced himself in elf language before our duel, so I don’t remember it clearly, but I am sure that if I heard it again I would know.”
Yo Mei froze. ‘28 years ago… dark elf…’
“Lan Hei Kong.” She said barely audible. Chief Chu turned to her his eyes wide open.
“What did you say?”
“Lan Hei Kong.” Yo Mei said a bit louder. Chief Chu jaw dropped.
“Yes… yes it was that name. That was the person who I stole it from!” Chief Chu exclaimed as he clearly heard the name. Yo Mei started to shake and her body grew cold, her face pale.
“No. No. No! Why? No. Father… mother… uncle…brother...” She started to pant heavily. Chou, who was quiet this whole time trying to follow their conversation, suddenly stood on his chair.
“Honey!” He said worried as his hand touched her cheeks. Tears started to stream down Yo Mei’s face and her eyes were filled with sorrowness and despair.
“Mrs. Du?” Chief Chu looked at her worried.
“Aah!” She cried out as fell back from her chair. She landed on the floor and dragged herself backwards shaking her head furiously. She bit her robe and pulled her knees to her chest.
“Honey!” Chou ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her torso.
“What is going on?” Chief Chu stood up and approached them. Chou held out his hand.
“Just… we just need a moment alone together. Please, Chief Chu.” He pleaded, his red eyes full of worry. Chief Chu understood and nodded.
“If you need any help, then just call my name. I will come to you as fast as I can.” Chief Chu said before giving them a quick bow and exiting the room. Chou turned back to his wife and slowly rubbed her back.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” He whispered into her ears. “You’re safe. You’re safe.”
Yu Lin laid in her bed and she waited for her parents and Chief Chu to leave before sitting up. Although she knew that she should rest, she couldn’t stop thinking of Liang Guang Ming. ‘I am certain that I have never seen her before, unless somehow something happened my memories.’ The more she thought about it, the more it had seemed like a dream, however it had seemed too real to be a dream. The words that Liang Guang Ming said echoed in her head.
“...then everyone we both love will die.” The words did not leave her head and she on her hair out of frustration. ‘What did she mean by that?!’ She screamed inside her head. After a while of thinking she gave up as she did not know what Liang Guang Ming had meant. ‘What is it that I am supposed to do?’ She thought. Another image flashed inside her head and she opened her eyes. ‘Why did Chu Hong Hu have that?’ She thought.
In her previous life Yu Lin had seen those engravings, and those marks. She did not know what it meant or what purpose it served but she knew that it had been Lan Hei Kong who had shown her those markings. She laid her head back down on the pillow and decided just to go to sleep. Her eyes were fluttering closed before she heard a voice cry out. She sat up in bed as she recognized the voice belonged to her mother. She quickly got out of bed and ran as fast as she could towards the sound.
Chief Chu stood outside with a worried expression on his face. He wondered why Yo Mei had reacted that way, however he knew that she had her reasons. He heard light footsteps approaching him and turned his head to see Yu Lin running towards him with a worried expression. She opened her mouth to say something, but Chief Chu raised his pointer finger up and placed it on his lips. She closed her mouth. Chief Chu gestured for to follow him, and she did. The two walked out into training grounds which was located not too far from the guest room.
Yu Lin looked around and did not see He Lan. Instead, there sat a half filled chi energy stone lying on the place where He Lan had sat earlier. Chief Chu picked up the stone and stuffed it into his robe, before turning back to look at Yu Lin.
“Your parents are busy at the moment. It would be better for us not to disturb them.” He said. Yu Lin wondered what had happened, however seeing Chief Chu’s stern expression, she could do nothing but just nod her head.
“I understand.” She said.
“You should head back to bed Yu Lin.” Chief Chu was worried for her however Yu Lin shook her head.
“I want to make sure they’re alright first.” She said. Chief Chu was going to force her to go but seeing her worried eyes he could not bring himself to say anything else.
“Let’s sit and wait together then.” He suggested. The two sat down together on a bench as with they looked at the moonlit flowers in the garden. Chief Chu thought about what had sent Yo Mei into that state and the only conclusion he could come up with, was the name Lan Hei Kong. “Yu Lin, do you know if your mom has any relatives or kins?”
“Mama does not talk about her family much.” Yu Lin replied. She was also curious as to why her mother never talked to her much about her family circumstances, however she could do nothing about it.
“I see…” Chief Chu slowly nodded his head. He understood that every family had their own problems for he was a father himself. The two sat there quietly in silent, as they waited. After a while had passed Chief Chu stood up. “Let’s go check up on them now.” He said. Yu Lin only nodded as she stood up and followed behind him. They only took a couple steps when they heard a voice cry out.
“What are you doing here in my house you monster?!”