The trek down the mountain trail fizzled into silence. Tempers had flared and moods were soiled, but still, they both walked close to each others.
As silence between the two lingered, Susu finally broke it. As something was on her mind, despite how much she hated to admit it, she still needed to hear Xing’s thoughts. But hopefully this time he isn’t going to tease me! Susu thought. “You think Fan’er invited me to join the Golden Bowl because she was becoming chief?” Susu asked.
“Yes…I believe so,” Xing said.
“I see.”
The two continued further in silence, only allowing their feet to speak, stroking across the hard soil pathway. Following the pathway down and around a few sharp corners, which led to a steep ledge.
When an opening appeared on the other side, which was a short cut. They both kicked off the ground, sailing across towards the ledge using their Qinggong.
As they landed on the other side of the ledge with a thud. They made a left around another corner flickering diamonds appeared in their eyesight, as the moon’s light reflected across the Red River, stretching beyond what their eyes could see.
As Susu stared into the distance, absorbing the moon’s light. She could feel Xing’s eyes on her. She ignored it, but Xing always knew how to get understand her skin, compared to Brother Ying and Brother Guo.
“Su’er…do you still want children?” Xing asked.
Susu drew her lips into a line and calmed herself. The veign that had popped across her forehead had relaxed and she turned to Xing, with a bright smile on her face.
“I have no plans to have children Brother Xing. I’m thirty-six years of age, my child-bearing days have long passed”
“That’s not true Susu! Women that cultivate can have children up to sixty. You’re of the Divination Realm.”
“None of that matters…I’m fine.” Susu said calmly. “What about you, don’t you want children?”
“HELL NO! I’m fine without children.” He said.
“Why are you fine, Brother Xing?” Susu asked.
“If I have children, they’ll cut into my wine budget!”
Susu groaned and snared at Xing, he smiled back at her, bright as ever. “Can’t you answer truthfully for once?”
“And lose the opportunity to see you flustered? Never!”
Susu groaned a sigh, closing her eyes as she looked at Zhao Xing in disbelief, then turned around This fool She thought, this fool! I cant stand him!
She pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “Look, let’s just get to the town before the taverns close.”
“You’ve read my mind!” Xing cheered.
A crying squeal resonated into the air, replacing the hoots and chirps that were engraving themselves into their eardrums.
Screams drowned out the insect’s squeaks, forcing Susu to snap her head right, looking into the distance. Her eyes bypassed the lingering forest beneath them, meeting the Red River.
Susu’s eyes peered in the distance, trying to see where that nose came from. An orange flickering light, floating in the distance.
“LOOK!” Xing snapped, “A ship on flames…”
“Damn it…its Bandits.”
Susu stepped off the cliff, feeling as her robes ruffled wildly as the wind slapped into her as she soured towards the forest below.
As the wind howled, flapping her ears flapped ferociously. The adrenaline within her body began to pump as her heart began to thump.
This wasn’t her first time doing such a feat and it certainly wouldn’t be her last. Susu yanked her whip free from its holster and flooded Qi within her Core Dantians.
As Qi flowed through her like a river, her meridians pulsed as though they were alive. A surge of power she felt, increased her senses, making her stronger, faster and highly perceptive.
Susu cracked her whip, channelling Qi into the tip of the whip. The whip stuck to the mountain for two seconds, stalling her descent. When it broke free, she kicked off the mountain, shifting her weight as she began to free fall once more.
The momentum of her descent lurched her towards the ground, whereas she tapped her feet on the mountain’s surface again, right before she cushioning the impact on her knees and feet.
Susu landed on top of a tree, forcing it to bend in a long curve. Pebbles clanked onto her conical hat, forcing her to turn around. As she looked up, Zhao Xing was sliding down the mountain wall, using his Iron Shredding Claws to slow his pace. Catch me if you can Brother Xing!
Susu shot into the air, soaring twenty-five meters using her Qinggong. She landed on top of another tree, then looked back.
She bit her lip in frustration, noticing a smug smile painted across Zhao Xing’s face, as if he’d been enjoying watching her dart off into the distance. “He’s up to something…” she said softly.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As the wind roared into her ear from each leap. The gradual grooves of the landscape and treetops made it hard for Susu to land comfortably. As she almost slid down a few trees, but tapped her toes, re-orienting herself and floating back into the air some distance.
A large boom echoed behind her, drawing Susu’s attention. If Xing had a tad bit of gracefulness, he wouldn’t be himself, She thought coyly.
Susu knew his overbearing personality was one of the best things about him, despite how much he loved to tease her. It was never malicious; she knew that was simply him.
A hearty laugh bellowed behind her, and a surge of Qi began to thump behind her, catching her attention.
A the Qi began to pulse violently, branches from the surrounding trees began sway forward. He’s getting excited...this might end badly.
Susu sent Qi from her Core Dantian throughout her meridians. Her skin sizzled from the sensation, making goosebumps rise as sailed into the air, flying another eighteen meters, distancing herself from Xing.
As she descended, she realises the land itself went into a gentle slope. As she descended back to the forest, she channeled Qi into her feet as she saw the bad angle she was at.
Susu hit the side of a tree, but tapped the bark, recovering quickly, but not completely. She tried to kick herself back up, she mistimed her step, forcing her to fall to the ground. Damn it...I overestimated the distance
A jolt of pain shot up her leg, despite the Qi that was flowing within her meridians. She winced slightly, then bit the bottom of lip, alleviating the pain.
Susu kicked off the ground, tapping two varying trees and sailed right back to the top of the tree lines. She then found a rhythm and floated from from tree to tree with ease. “FIRST ONE TO THE BOAT…WINS!” Xing bellowed, startling her from his rumbling voice behind her.
“THIS ISN’T TIME FOR GAMES! LIVES ARE AT STAKE!” She shouted back.
A bellowing crack snapped through the air, followed by a large boom. A hissing sound that felt as though it was piercing through the air, gushed past her, drawing her attention.
Susu looked to her right and was dumbfounded, but mostly pissed. Xing stood on top of a log, hands folded in front of him as though he were some General riding on a warhorse.
She watched as his eyes drifted towards her, then he flashed a smug smile across his face, then stuck his tongue. “LAST ONE PAYS FOR THE WINE AND LODGING.” He shouted.
“DAMN IT,” Susu cursed, aggravated. She increased her speed, watching as Xing sailed further ahead. Xing might not have been great at Qinggong, but he certainly maximised how to use his strength in different ways. Like this, she thought bitterly.
Xing soared through the air for a further ten seconds, before the log began to descend. He skipped off, trailing to his right and began leaping from tree to tree without halt.
Susu followed suit, closing the gap in seconds. As Xing tried soared over a grove of trees and leaped off a tree top and landed on the sand with a loud boom, sand puffing around like mist.
As Susu landed in a crouch, the sand Xing had flared up, slapped into face forcing her to raise her veil. She looked up and Xing leaped into the air again, landing on the Red River with a subtle splash.
The orange hue of flames sprayed across the river, making it seem like the sun was about to rise.
Susu squinted, and noticed that there was a smaller boat, forty feet long, drifting next to the engulfed boat.
As the fire flared from the starboard side flared, the sail was already burnt to a crisp, but the worst thing of all, was the harrowing screams that filled the air.
It was a lot more daunting than Ban Susu could bare. As the sound of clashing swords permeated the air, waves splashed against the the enflamed boat even louder.
Anxiety, fright and anger began to resonate within Susu. In all her thirty-six years of life, she wasn’t one to give up and this wasn’t going to be that one time.
She was scorned, disliked, as she was not of Huaxian descent, but loved nonetheless, because of who she was.
The colour of her was tanner than most Huaxians. However, she knew how Huaxians loved porcelain coloured skin, something she was not.
The taunts and teasing of her childhood was ingrained into her, but she didn’t allow them to define, as instructed by her master.
The resilience and courage made her into one the current generations best martial artists, but sadly she didn’t come for a well established sect such as The Golden Bowl Sect, Emerald Star Palace or the Heavy Sword Sect.
Despite that, she never thought she would make friends in the Jianghu, and she did. Two martial heroes from renowned sects.
She even loved one of them, despite knowing she shouldn’t. Eventually, Susu won over the people of Huaxia, providing justice to the innocent and ending evil in her wake.
It may have sounded cliché, but that was the irony of it all. Her master, Chaoxiang saved her from this life, allowing her to become a Hero within Jianghu.
Some saw being a hero medial, but to her it was just another step on her path to enlightenment.
A path she took seriously, unlike Zhao Xing.
Susu rock her whipped back, then rolled her shoulder. She felt as the whip extended forward, cracking at the tip as it rolled around the balcony of the boat.
She tugged it and lurched forward like an arrow seething through the wind, shooting right Zhao Xing leaving him with dazed eyes and a hearty smile.
As she soared into the air, men wielding daggers, swords and spears were slaughtering people on the deck mercilessly.
By Susu’s count, at least twenty-five bodies were littered across the deck with severed, lacerations and contusions appearing at the bodies like moth to a flame.
The sight churned Susu’s stomach, but it also showed how long and hard these people were fighting off these bandits. …no murderers, this isn’t banditry, this is just slaughtering.
A man draped in white in the corner of Susu eyes caught her attention. A long curved sword was nestled into his right hand, he downed two assailants with one smooth stroke and blocked an attack aimed for his right. Then, he spun around decapitating the the assailant one smooth action.
He’s amazing, Susu mused, then her eyes strayed to his hand. The colour of them weren’t that of an Huaxian, they were as dark as chocolate, then it hit her. He’s an Axsumite.
Susu’ mind raced in that very second. Why are Axsumites here? Is there another invasion?
As she still soared in the air, her eyes scowered the lower deck again, trying to understand what was going on, before she made a mistake.
Two bodies in the corner of her eyes caught her attention. A Huaxian dressed in similar robes to that of the Axsumite behind him. The Huaxian was killed from being pierced through the stomach, whilst the Axsumite was killed from that fatal attack.
Susu’s grip on her whip began to loosen, as her mind raced with questions and assumptions whilst the chaos unfolded.
The sight of the Axsumite warrior battling the assailants only deepened her confusion. Why were Axsumites here? And why were they under attack?
A surge of empathy washed over her, the fallen Huaxians and Axsumites, lay motionless on the deck, their blood staining it, a reminder that even in war, the law of the jungle exists. The weak submit to the strong.
But that doesn’t mean slaughter is the answer! Susu thought. Huaxians would NEVER protect an Axsumite.
An assailant man buried his blade into Axsumite woman’s skull, whilst another assailant maimed an Axsumite man who was crawling, trying to escape.
A woman in the corner of Susu’s eyes dropped to her knees, blood seeping from her lips.
Susu slammed into the deck, poised with anger. She didn’t know the story on what was going on…nor did she care. To her, this was unjust slaughter, murder. It wasn’t right and she despised that…to her core.