Here's chapter 2
It picks up directly after Chapter 1 so you might want to scroll up a bit to refresh your memory ^^
Personal replies at the end of the chapter~
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Another clearing of trees, she can see the talisman sitting innocently on the ground. She can finally feel her body calm down as her fingers wrap around the thin slip of paper, the only hope within reach. Maybe it's time to try again. She closes her eyes, holding the talisman out in front of her. Her heart is far from calm and so is the wind combing through her hair and garments.
As if on cue, the trees opposite her let fall a sprinkle of leaves. A white figure flutters into the clearing. It's another breathtaking entrance. The fox bears her claws again, the red stains along them still evident. A murderous glint is in its eyes. "Hand over your life and I might consider giving you a painless death."
Ying Ru who has been silent, finally opens her eyes. Something is different in her complexion. Her fingers let go of the talisman and it is immediately caught in a large bubble of glowing, pulsating air. There's no smirk on Ying Ru's face like the one that is painted over the jing's. A string of whispered incantations escape her lips. The bubble grows to twice it's previous size. With qi flowing freely throughout her body, Ying Ru feels that everything is alright again. Another string of incantations flow from her lips, this time to melt the talisman.
By now, the fox has sensed something amiss. The tables have turned horribly against it. A human girl who can't utilize a talisman correctly is no threat, but the Ying Ru of this moment has already broken through that disadvantage. In all her hundred years of existence, this jing has never encountered a talisman, but it's power isn't something that can't be imagined. Instead of running as Ying Ru would at this turn of events, the fox assumed an unwavering stance. Half of it wanted to see it's power, the other half probably was too prideful to turn it's tail upwards and dash off into the forest in flight.
The talisman has already begun to dissolve into tiny glittering specks, fusing violently with the ball of qi encasing it. Even a blind man can feel the energy and destruction it can bestow. A last string of incantations leave Ying Ru's chapped lips. The spell is very taxing to use and to add to it, she has already recieved a set of injuries from earlier. She hopes she can stand at least until she can deliver a decent damage.
The blow came predicted and unpredicted at the same time. Ying Ru is confident it could finish it for the fox, but she didn't expect herself to be thrown back into the air as well. It proved too much for her weakened body to sustain. While the cry of the jing, something human and animistic at the same time, sounded in her ear, she herself felt the bone-cracking impact of her back against the trunk of a tree. Blood seeped out from the corner of her lips. Her whole body hurts badly, as if she had just fell down a cliff. At least she's still alive, she thought. Hao Yang might sigh at the sight of her when she gets back, but at least she isn't dead. Ying Ru doesn't need anyone to protect her, she smiles proudly. Even if she ends up like this from something as small as using a talisman, she managed to keep herself in one piece, didn't she?
She is really tired. Realizing that her overactive mind has already become so unoccupied as to think about these useless things again, she decides to pull herself up and start heading home for real. She doesn't have another talisman nor the energy to run into another jing.
Just when she got up, a rainfall of red leaves flutter down from over her head, some landing on her shoulders and hair. She hadn't touched the tree at all. The sound of shuffling reached her ears. Another drizzle of leaves follow.
She arches her neck up, peering up into the tree behind her. Ying Ru can subtly make out a figure against one of the highest branches. She takes a few steps away and to the side of the tree. Now it was obvious there was something in the tree above her head, more specifically someone. She didn't know how long she stood there just gazing.
"Are you done staring?"
A tinge of pink surfaced on her cheeks, but it quickly disappeared. Her face was now a solid frown. "Staring?" She was trying hard not to let her mood plummet further. If she had another talisman she might consider using it on this cold blooded person. Who sits on a tree and watches a girl risk her life trying to dispel a jing? She doesn't even want to wonder how long he has been watching. She is just bitter.
"Yes, staring." The figure sits up from the comfortable reclining position on the branch and returns her gaze. "It's rude."
A crease formed between her eyes. Maybe it's because Ying Ru was already in such a bad mood. She did, after all, almost lose her life and now a stranger is mocking her. Her mood can't possibly get any better. "I apologize." She snaps, her tone not reflecting an ounce of sincerity. "Enjoy whatever you were doing." She really doesn't want to spend another second maintaining this awful conversation.
The figure seems to have a problem with that though. The tree gave a tremble and leaves poured over her head, drifting in every direction. It's quite beautiful a sight actually, but unfortunately Ying Ru's mood is not to par.
A fluttering of white and silver blinded her eyes for a moment, accompanied by a soft chorus of unseen bells. Instead of a tree's trunk, she is now face to face with the figure who was on the tree just seconds ago.
Is there a face that will completely push all thoughts out of a person's mind?
If Ying Ru wasn't staring, like this person had claimed a moment ago, then she is shamelessly staring at this moment. A pair of striking eyes set on a face with features that can only be described as elegant, beautiful in male terms stared unblinkingly back at her. It's a picture where shame does not exist, or so it looks. No matter how many beautiful people she has seen in all her sixteen years of life, they would not add up to the creature in front of her. This kind of beauty should be wrapped up in cloth and locked away forever in a place with no sunlight. Such a bewitching face, simply walking around will be a threat to the faint-hearted. Ying Ru has forgotten to breathe.
"It's too late. You've disrupted my rest. How can I let that pass?" A low voice asked. It took her a few seconds to get back into her body and comprehend that the person in front of her was speaking.
So that was what he was doing up there not coming to her aid like a man. She would really have to bring down her expectations. Simply resembling a man does not equate to being a man and in no way upholding to what makes a man a man. But still, it would have been perfect if he had come to her aid. She took a careful look at him again, this time from head to toe. He was dressed in a clean white robe. The front and bottom edges are embroidered with a thick, silver spiraling pattern. A large butterfly knot hung from his belt and on it she found the tiny bells. His black hair is held back by a strand of white silk reminiscent of the material his robe is made of. Every inch of him seems to exude a sense of regalness and painful refinement, the likes that would require a few centuries or perhaps a millennia to achieve.
Is this what a xian is like?
He turned his side to her, dusting off a red leaf that had settled on his shoulder.
She can feel his qi radiating off his body in a thick aura. If she wasn't so busy as she had been with trying to preserve her life, and she would assume the same with the fox, there was no missing such a powerful being in the premises, even if he was asleep.
Some things in life should not be given too much thought or the only outcome would be disappointment and more disappointment. If he had saved her, she would not have to face the cruel truth that someone looking like this is actually not a hero. Sadly, Ying Ru is a stubborn girl. What is worst than a stubborn girl? A stubborn and shallow girl.
She dragged a sleeve over the unsightly red trail of blood running down from the corner of her lips.
"If you really want to calculate it so clearly, let me have a question too." Ying Ru glares at the person in front of her with what she hopes is defiance. "You watched me almost get killed. Did it cross your mind that you should show some chivalry?"
The person in front of her raised a hand to stroke his chin, pretending to think. "Chivalry is a human trend. Whether or not I personally uphold it is a matter of choice." He bends down, his startling features magnifying with the proximity. "What is our relationship for you to demand that of me?"
Ying Ru chewed her bottom lip in frustration. "No relation. I'm a stranger, so I deserve to die. And you, what have you been cultivating? What's your name and what cult do you belong to?" The first thing she will do when she gets back to Master is to find out what kind of xian sees a person in need and chooses to overlook them. What makes them any more higher than humans then? The person in front of her has completely shattered her image of xian. Ying Ru isn't so sure she wants to cultivate into a xian anymore. If the first xian she has ever met turns out like this, it's equal to a knife in the heart.
"I don't belong to any sect. As far as I remember, I've always been this way. My name," His eyes wander around as if searching for his name in the trees surrounding them, "Yie Feng." He returns his gaze to her. "Do you have any more questions?"
"No." She answered quickly. The smirk on his lips, as attractive as it was, made her blood boil.
"Are you disappointed?" He seems to have caught on to something hidden in her face and is gazing unblinkingly at her, the smirk all the more frozen on his lips. "But it's against my..." A pause. "nature to help any and every soul I come by, even if it happens to be a charming girl like yourself." His voice is all but cringe-inducing by the time he finishes the sentence. Perhaps it would be fitting if he had reached over and patted her head to complete the statement.
"So cold-blooded is your nature?" The questions don't seem to stop.
"No." He looks at her incredulously.
"Under what circumstances would you help?" Ying Ru is seeming a lot like Fu Fu who has gotten a bite of Master's old slipper, refusing to let go under all pressures.
There was a long, thoughtful silence. It made Ying Ru anticipate what kind of answer she would get.
"Under the circumstance that you impress me." He answers severely. There is not a trace of nonsense in his tone.