Two days Later
As Susu sat, she questioned why she was still in the company of this troupe. The ogling eyes of the Lion Cub Escort Agency’s men, were down right inappropriate, she could feel their gazes penetrate her veil, like arrows each time she walked by.
She tried her best to ignore them, not wanting the feeling to become natural, but she could feel them stripe her clothes off…and that felt disgusting, like worms lathering themselves across her body as if she was in a dirt pit.
To take her mind off them time, she performed mundane tasks such as serving drinks with the rest the other women that accompany the Agency. It was all part of her cover of course. Zhu Zixin.
In the corner of her eye, she would watch Xing and Zhu Zixin talk about the many fights they’d they’d engage in and that made her jealous. Why did Brother Xing make us out to be husband and wife? She huffed.
She wanted to discuss her battles too, she was a Martial Artists, wasn’t she?
Susu would feel this way for a short while, then her eyes would drift to the child. Of course…stay the course Ban Susu, we’re soon within Longyan’s reach.
As the grass swayed, bending to the wind’s embrace. It provided a tranquil ambience to the zither playing at the centre of the camp.
Susu was never a fan of music, but she appreciated the way the chords were struck with such passion and what seemed to be a blissful embrace to her ears. The dings and chimes made her reminisce about the times she spent with Shi Qiu.
He would play the zither whenever he could. He wasn’t as good as the woman playing. Infact, he was a very poor zither player, but regardless he would still try. At least it wasn’t a flute he tried played Susu thought, remembering Heng Guo, to her annoyance.
She pushed Shi Qiu from her mind and walked back over to the baby, who was lying in a make-shift cradle, that Xing made of bamboo. It even had a little veil to hide her face, which relieved a little bit of anxiety from Susu’s heart.
The women eventually came over to her, sparking little conversations as she tapped the cradle watching it sway back and forth.
The gossip they brought was simple stuff. The men who tried to bed them. The men who proposed to them and the men they bedded.
Susu engaged them all with a smile. She even told them a lie about how she met her ‘Husband’ Xing. Women such as this loved tales of romance and valor and she would give them what they sought.
She told them one day she was out picking flowers, the next, she was married, and now she has a daughter and is heading to see Xing’s parents.
It wasn’t romantic, per-se, but the sweet nuances she added made their eyes glass as if they were envisioning themselves in her position.
In the Jianghu, if you didn’t have a quick wit, it’d be the end of you and with steel in her heart, she mentally ensured that nothing would happen to the child on her watch.
Susu watched as Xing pushed himself up from his seat, leaving Zhu Zixin with a smile and nod. In his hand, was a bowl of wine, baijiu of course.
Why not Susu muttered in her head it’s not like we just didn’t leave Anqing for a Wine Festival.
“The wind in Anqing smelt of flowers and foliage,” Xing told Susu. She’d never been so far south, despite wandering the Jianghu for over ten years.
She took the opportunity to get embrace the scenery, only to smell the streets littered with wine, sweat and debauchery.
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Not literally, but in spirit.
It left a sour taste in her mouth when she thought of it, but if she didn’t make the trip, she wouldn’t have met the angel with green eyes Susu reminded herself, getting up and looking into the makeshift cradle.
That, was enough to quell the sourness that had been arousing her mood, till Xing bellowed a hearty laugh in the distance. Doesn’t he know she falls asleep around this time? She huffed, tapping her foot against the roots of the tree she sat under.
Susu sat back, uncomfortable. If the child wasn’t asleep she would’ve moved the cradle, but she didn’t want to wake her. She sat back and watched as Xing made friends, poured wine and cheered.
Dai Li had ordered his men to keep their distance from us, but for Xing, that was laughable at best, especially in Susu’s eyes.
Still, though, it made her bitter watching him smile so naturally. I swear he’d friend a lion if he could she thought.
Once Xing had finished his friendly banter, he finally slumped his way back to the baby and Susu, hands open mockingly and smooching his lips for a kiss.
Susu smacked his hands away to a groaning cheer behind him, “SISTER FEI! BROTHER QIU SAID YOU’D SMACK HIM…I JUST LOST FIVE COPPER COINS BECAUSE OF THAT!” A fella roared, with a slur.
Xing smiled, plunking himself right next to Susu, smelling of baijiu which made Susu’s nose twitch. “What are they talking about?”
“They bet me that you’d ravage me tonight!” He said with a slur.
“Ravage you?”
“You’ve been eyeing me all night Fei’er as if you had plans!” Xing said heartily.
“Oh…be quiet!” She huffed, “The baby’s asleep, can’t you keep your voice down!”
Xing flashed a hearty smile, then gave Susu a flirting wink. She rolled her eyes at the back of her mind, as she felt the onlookers eyeing them from afar.
She didn’t mind Xing’s flirtatious nature, but she despised how much he liked to tease her, which he was doing right now.
The hair on Xing’s chiseled chest made him look rugged, along with the scruffy beard he’d grown over the past month. His face was as chiseled as his chest, making him look as though he was sculpted from a piece of jade
His lips were thin, with a sharp nose. His eyes were brown and borderline menacing, which held broodiness to them, something he often hid.
Susu would never admit it to his face, but Xing was as handsome and rugged as they come. But most of all, he was a great man with his demons to fight.
In that regard, he was bigger than life, in Susu’s mind, and she loved that about him. He cared for her, just like Heng Guo and Bo Ying did like any brother would which pain her to see him drown himself in wine.
Susu never met the Yun Yin, but she could see the pain in his eyes at the time he thought of her, which was every day. You’ll be fine Brother Xing She thought, you’ll be fine.
“The bandits in these parts have been burning Aisentin leaves,” Xing said softly.
“Aistentin leaves? Wouldn’t that blind them too?” Susu asked confused.
“It would, but that would only happen to the ones who lit the leaves. Senior Zixin said that they were ambushed due to ash from the laves. That’s how the majority of their men sustained injuries.”
“None of them are of the Mind Awakening Realm?” Susu asked.
“No.”
“I see…that makes sense. They weren’t able to use any form of perception the Mind Awakening Realm provides. I thought it strange that a like Zhu Zixin would have trouble with such riff-raff.”
“He didn’t have trouble, but he had to save his men and the goods…The glorious essence of Anqing….baijiu.” Xing said, licking his lips.
Susu whimpered a groan, then hit Xing on the knee. “Enough with your appetite!”
“I’m just getting started.” He said with a wink.
A few minutes passed and Susu finally broke the silence of the rustling trees. “Do you think these bandits are related to the ones that we fought on the boat?” Susu asked, looking at the baby sound asleep.
“I’m not sure. I probed as much as I could, but their fighting style according to Senior Zixin was too generic.”
“I see…” Susu said.
“Something’s troubling you?” Xing asked.
“Yes…when I fought one of them. He mentioned that getting rid of the Axsumites was a patriot’s duty.”
“Patriot’s duty? Are the Axsumites planning to invade us again?”
“Invade? Has a new Emperor been raised in the Axsum?”
“Not for my understanding. The Twelve Princedoms are still alive and strong, fighting against each other. A pity that is.” Xing said.
“A pity?”
“Yes…those twelve Princes are Endubis’ sons and daughters. The man was emperor. The moment he died by Emperor Tian Hao’s sword…they fled to fight amongst themselves, that’s pathetic!”
Susu harrumphed, then eyed the baby. “You’re not pathetic…ignore this fool,” She said. “Brother Xing, don’t you find it weird that as soon as Emperor Tian Hao came to power Huaxia became an Isolationist Empire immediately?”
“I can’t say that I think it weird, but I’m no king. If an Emperor’s think it best to be an Isolationist State, then an Isolationist State that nation would be.”
“That’s absolutely ludicrous Brother Xing and you know it,” Susu said softly.
“You might be right, but I don’t care. The only things I care about are wine and women.” He said with a wink, then caught himself. “…along with Master and you lot!”
Susu rolled her eyes and ignored him further, because she knew deep down, that him trying to tease her was his way of showing that he cared. She knew he did, but sometimes, she just wish he would lay off the wine and teasing… as a normal person would!