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  1. #41
    Senior Member skoo78's Avatar
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    Anh Nam, thank you for your corrections. I appreciate this a lot. It's hard when English is not my native language but I'm working on it. Since my second pair of eyes ditched on me, you or anybody else can be my grammar teacher here. jk.

  2. #42
    Senior Member skoo78's Avatar
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    CHAPTER 18: THE CONTINUING SEARCH

    Almost a year had passed and at Mystic Falls, a young man stood from the shoreline to watch the massive waterfall hit the rocks. On his neck, he wore an animal-skinned string necklace, and tied at the end, was the platinum Victorian engagement ring. He held it tight in his hand, remembering the first day it happened. All three of them; Cecilia, Tsui Man, and he, Yang Kai Li, fell from the blue sky into this raging river. It almost took his life, but what hurt the most was that it took his love…Cecilia Lin. Unknown if she was still alive or not, her body was never found.

    Yang Kai Li’s physical body had changed. He wore a brown and white long robe and on his black belt, was a talisman. His hair had grown and was down to his back. It was tied with ragged strings into a half pony tail, but left some strands in front of his face. His facial complexion was much more defined with his sharp cheekbones; as for his physique, it was more built than before. He kept his body in shape by combinations of exercise, boxing, and other forms of martial arts that he learned from his world. During his stay in Mortal Realm, he taught himself sword skills with what he knew. Although his physical look changed, inside his heart, his love for Cecilia remained the same, and he only anticipated to be reunited with her someday. In his heart, he believed that she was still alive somewhere, looking for him also.

    In his other hand, he held some wild flowers that he picked up and knelt down to place it next to the sign. In front of him was a wooden tombstone-like sign that stood from the earth’s ground: My dearest love, Cecilia Lin, wait for me here. I’m searching for you. Yang Kai Li. He carved these words to hope she would discover it and know he was still alive. For almost the past twelve months, he had made the area of Mystic Falls his home and traveled short and long distances to other villages down the Mystic River searching for her. When he traveled far, he would leave a note for her next to the sign to let her know when he would be back. When he came back from a long trip, he would rush to the sign to see if she was there.

    Behind him, a young lady, Qiao Mei Mei, stood watching him from a distance. She wore a green robe and on her right wrist, she wore a jade bead bracelet. Her black bangs were thick and covered her forehead completely. She was a cute little lady; porcelain skin, rounded umber eyes, and when she smiled, her deep dimples showed. The only difference between her and Kai was that she was demon; a part of the bird demon group, the sparrows.

    When the Black Forest’s seal broke, she was one of many demons escaped. She went into hiding at Mystic Falls and stumbled upon Kai’s unconscious body. It was fortunate that he met a good demon like her, otherwise; he would have been food for the evil demons or wild animals.

    It was her that he finally realized Cecilia, Tsui Man, and he had fallen into another dimension. The place looked exactly like his home, EARTH, but it was in an era where different ancient civilizations intertwined with mystical beings. Everyone in the dimension called it the Mortal Realm. She educated him in reading and writing, about the three different realms-Mortal, Celestial, and Demon, and their history, in exchanged of him educating her about his world. They both had something in common-they came from different worlds and had bonded quickly.

    “Are you sure about this?” she asked Kai.

    “Yes. I will have to take my chance and travel further to search for her.” His fingers touched the carved words, “I may not come here often as I use to, but I will be back.”

    He took out the engagement box from his shirt pocket and opened it. Inside was a small folded letter that he wrote. He stared at it for the last time and then closed it. With his hands, he dug a shallow hole in front of the sign and buried the box halfway to secure it in place. Then he placed rock pebbles around the buried box in a heart shape.

    “Please wait for me here…” he said silently.

    “Uh…”

    By the tone of Mei Mei’s voice, he knew something was wrong. He got up and turned to see that she looked bothered.

    “What’s the matter?”

    She looked to the side. “I’m afraid that if we leave, I may not able to protect you from demons,” and bit her bottom lip.
    He chuckled a bit and grabbed his talisman from his belt to show her. “Silly girl, this will protect me…” then he figured out her real reason. “Oh, I get it…You’re afraid of being caught by demon hunters. That is why you tried to make excuses to stay here, am I right?”

    She pursed her lips and was silence.

    “Don’t worry. I will protect you from anyone that harms you.”

    She stared at him, “Then who will protect you then? You know, I cannot use my powers nor harm any Mortals for one thousand days. It’s one of the rules for becoming Mortal.”

    Kai placed his hands on his hips and shook his head, “Fine. I can go by myself and you can stay here then. You can help me watch this place to see if Cici comes.”

    She weighed her options. If she stayed, she may encounter bad people or worse, demon hunters. If she left with him, she had a better chance of him protecting her. She had seen him fight and kill many people during their search for Cecilia and never once, she was harmed. She finally made her decision.

    She rolled her eyes and exhaled, “Ok, I’ll go.”

    Kai patted her head to tease her, “Good Little Mei Mei…”

    Upset, she pulled his hand away from her. “I am not your pet ok!” She yelled while he laughed loudly.

    She stumped away from him to go back home and shouted, “MY PRECIOUS PATH TO MORTALITY IS IN YOUR HANDS!”
    He trailed behind, still laughing.

    ---

    In his room, he gathered a set of clothing and other items for their journey. Mei Mei entered in and on the table, she saw a picture of Cecilia that he drew and walked toward it.

    She picked it up, “Aren’t you going to make more copies of this?”

    “No,” he replied while tying the cloth bag. Then he continued, “I’ve done it for almost a year and there was no result. Instead, I am going to take it with me and continue to ask around instead.”

    Still staring at the drawing, she nodded, “Alright…”

    He finished packing, carried his bag and sword, and walked toward her. He quickly snatched the picture from her hands and it startled her.

    “Hey!”

    He continued to walk passed her and shouted, “It’s time to go.” Mei Mei sneered at him and stomped out to catch up with him.
    Both stood outside of their house to look at it for the last time. They won’t know when they would be back again. The house was their home that once was an abandon place. They fixed it up by replacing rotten wood with new ones, rebuilding walls with muddy clays, and decorated the interior with wood furniture made from scratch, hanging pictures, and plants. It had a modern touched to it as well-with coffee table, cabinets, futon, and soft beds.

    “I’m going to miss this place.” she sighed.

    “Same here.”

    Kai was going to miss the hard work that both of them had put into; but most of all, this was the only place that he felt like he was back in his world.

    He nudged her on the arm, “Come, let’s get out of here.” Both turned around and left.

    ---

    Kai and Mei Mei walked on the dirt path for hours. She started to complain about her feet hurting and wanted to rest, but Kai insisted for them to keep going. Then another two hours had passed and she couldn’t walk another step anymore. Her feet finally gave up and she collapsed to the ground onto her knees.

    “Kai, my feet hurt. I can’t go any further!”

    He stopped and turned back to see her on the ground massaging her feet. He shook his head sighing and walked toward her.

    He knelt down beside her, “Fine, we’ll rest.”

    Her face lit up with excitement, “YAY!”

    He interrupted, “Only for thirty minutes.”

    She quickly frowned and looked away, upset at him. “If only I could use my powers, I would have transformed back to my sparrow form and flown with ease.” Then she glared at him and raised her voice, “…I would already have shitted many times on your head too!”

    His grinned widened, “A sparrow meat must taste like chicken. I should try it then.”

    Offended, she raised her fist to hit him. “YOU!” but stopped to remind herself of the rules to mortality, and lowered her fist. Instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to cool down.

    “You almost made me break my path to mortality. I need to meditate to calm my body down because of you.”

    She sat on the ground and crossed her legs to meditate while he got up to look around. In front of him, inside the forest, he saw something white and walked to the end of the side dirt path. He squint his eyes to focus on the object. Slap! A hand was on his shoulders and he quickly turned around with the sword half way out of its sheath. Mei Mei jumped back with a fright to see the blade aimed at her. Seeing that it was only Mei Mei, Kai quickly put back his sword and yelled at her.

    “DON’T DO THAT! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!”

    “I…I’m sorry…I saw you standing and thought something was wrong with you…”

    With a stern look, he pointed at her, “Call my name next time.”

    She nodded. Then she shifted her eyes to look behind him and pointed where he was looking at. “What’s over there?”

    He turned back to the white object in the forest. “I don’t know. Let’s go find out.”

    “But…”

    Kai had already walked into the forest. Not wanting to be alone, she quickly ran to catch up with him. They reached to the area and what they saw was horrifying. The white object was a piece of torn shirt that was hung from a branch. Blood and leftover human flesh were everywhere on the ground, plants, and trees. A couple of feet away from them was a decapitated hollow head that was ripped open. Both of their eyes widened in shock of the gruesome sight. From all of the killings that he had seen, this was the worse. He couldn’t look at the sight anymore and shut his eyes.

    Mei Mei quickly darted her head behind Kai, too scared to look at the bloody massacre. Her voice trembled, “Demons…”

    He slightly turned his head and looked at her from the corner of his eyes, “You’re a demon yourself, why are you scared?”

    “You just don’t know…These demons are ruthless. They are called the Blood Demon Wolves that takes part in a human form and feast on mortal flesh. Can we go please?” she pleaded, tugging his arm.

    Then he heard fainted horses’ cries from his left and turned. There stood two unharmed horses eating plants. He patted her trembled hand that held his arm and pointed at the horses.

    “Look. You don’t have to walk anymore.”

    She turned where he was pointing at and saw the horses. Happy, she let go of his arm and clasped her hand together. They brought the horses out of the forest, got on them, and rode off to the nearest village.

    ---

    The sun was setting and they reached to a rundown village. An old worn down signage with the name, Sorrow Village, hung from the upper corner, swinging sideways from a light wind. Then a foul stench from the village brushed against their face to welcome them.

    Mei Mei covered her nose with her hands. “This village smells!”

    He noticed that there were no talisman hung from the entrance way and wondered if the place was full of demons.

    “This village is not protected. We will have to be cautious of our surroundings.”

    She nodded and they walked into the village. There was no wealth in this place; only below poverty. The houses were old; some were abandoned with the word Beware painted on the walls, and the rest were residential places and businesses. Most of the people were in rags and only a few wore common clothing.

    “This must have been one of the places demons use to roam,” said Mei Mei.

    Kai pulled out the drawing of Cecilia and started to ask the villagers if they have seen her. All the responses that he got back were silent shook of their heads. After a couple more hours, they finally reached an inn. “Let’s rest here for the night,” he said.

    She nodded.

    They tied their horses onto the old wooden rail and entered inside. They looked around and saw only a couple of bulky and scruffy men eating at a table. One had a scruffy overgrown beard and the other, had a head band wrapped around his forehead. They quickly glanced at Kai and Mei Mei, and then went back to eating their food. Kai noticed the two men’s swords on top of the table and his sense of alert heightened to know that the men might be troublesome during their stay. The owner, a middle-aged man, came out from another room and saw them. Happy to see visitors, he came to greet them.

    “Welcome guests! Are you dining or staying?”

    “Staying for one night please,” replied Kai.

    “Alright…two pieces of silver then.” the owner thought they were a couple and asked, “One room?”

    Kai and Mei Mei replied in unison but with different answers. Kai said, “Two,” but Mei Mei said, “One,” and both stared at each other.

    The owner became confused and scratched his head. “Is it one or two?”

    Since he knew Mei Mei was scared of being alone, he finally answered, “One.”

    Happy, the owner led them upstairs to their room. As they walked up the stairs, the two bulky men watched them at the corner of their eyes; however, they did not know Kai kept a close eye on them also. The owner opened the door to their room and they entered in.

    “Here’s your room. Come and look for me downstairs if you need anything.”

    He was about to leave when Kai stopped him and showed him the drawing, “Have you seen her?”

    The owner looked at the drawing and shook his head, “No.”

    Kai sighed as he folded the drawing and placed it back in his shirt pocket. Then he asked the owner, “Sir, what happened to this village?”

    The owner had a doleful look on his face and sighed sadly. “This village used to be a prosperous place until the demon epidemic. They took many lives and only a few of us escaped. After a couple of months later, a group of demon hunters came and vanquished most demons in sight.” He shook his head and continued, “However, these demon hunters weren’t good people…”

    Kai was confused, “What do you mean?”

    “Young man, there are some demon hunters that captured and killed demons for the sake of saving mortal lives; but, there are some that only captured to do worse…”

    Mei Mei gasped and knew what he meant. “…to absorb their essences…” and covered her mouth with her hands.

    The owner nodded, “Right.”

    Kai never knew there were evil demon hunters and turned to her. “How come you didn’t tell me about them?”

    “Sorry, I…I forgot…” and bit her lower lip.

    The owner continued, “I’ve seen it with my own eyes…one day, I decided to sneak back to the village. I saw the evil demon hunters capturing and devouring demons one by one to give them powerful strengths.” He sighed, “…To be frank, I was happy that some demons escaped from all of that.”

    “How come you weren’t caught by any of them then?” she asked curiously.

    “I have a talisman and hid well, away from their sight.”

    “So let me guess, after the evil demon hunters left, the village people began to slowly come back to this place then,” she said.

    He nodded. “This is our home. Although it’s in a poor shape, I believe we will make it through this hardship.”

    “I’ve noticed that everyone wears a talisman, but the village doesn’t have one. Why not protect the village as well?” Kai asked.

    “After the demon took over, the village became nonexistence to the outsiders. No higher authorities would come to this place; therefore, we’re on our own.”

    “I admire your village people’s bravery to come back here.”

    “Thank you sir.”

    Kai’s hands folded in front, “Thank you for explaining to us about this place.”

    “You are welcome.”

    Kai took out six pieces of silver and placed it in the owner’s hand. “Here’s for the stay.”

    The owner looked down at the money and shook his head, “Sir, you must heard me wrong, it’s only two silver pieces to stay for the night…”

    “I know. Keep it as a big tip.”

    Happy, the owner bowed and thanked him a couple more times, and then he left them alone in their room. Mei Mei quickly dropped her belongings on the ground, ran to the bed, and plopped herself on top. She laid on the bed with her legs crossed and her hands on her back of her head.

    “What a long day!”

    Kai picked up her belonging and placed their belongings and sword on the wooden table.

    “So, tell me about these evil demon hunters.”

    Her smile disappeared and she felt a quiver of fear. She sat up and took a deep breath.

    “Mortals call them Evil Demon Hunters, but we, as demons, call them the Seekers. They are mortals that followed the evil god Yao Du Yi and have learned a way to absorb Demons’ essences, making them become invincible…”

    Kai thought about the name and then it hit him. “Isn’t he the Celestial Prince?”

    “Yes. He led many thousands of evil demons, evil mortals, and evil fallen immortals to battle…” She glanced up at him with furrowed brows, “Now you know why I am scared of demon hunters?!”

    “I understand now.” He sat down next to her and patted her shoulder, “If any good or evil demon hunters harm you, I will kill them.”
    She shook her head, “I’m afraid they are going to kill you first before you get to them. The seekers are different than the demon hunters. Their strengths and internal qi are ten times stronger for anyone to defeat. Even some of the strongest demons tried to kill them but were unsuccessful…”

    “Mei Mei, Why have little faith? Don’t worry. Nothing will happen to me.”

    She couldn’t accept what he said. Even though he was full of confident and fearless, she worried he would die from their hands. He was only a mortal being that do not know any spells or have powerful internal qi to defeat demons. Knowing that he wouldn’t understand all of this, she could only smile at him.

    ---

    Late that night, the two bulky men quietly opened the door to Kai and Mei Mei’s room. The room lit from the light outside when entered in, and they saw Kai and Mei Mei were nowhere in sight. Both looked at each other puzzled and wondered where they might be. Then they saw shadow movements from behind and turned around. Kai and Mei Mei stood there with their smirks. The bulky men drew out their swords.

    Kai pointed them with his sword, “We knew the two of you would come up here. Do you want money? Or do you want to kill us?”
    “Both!” shouted the bearded man.

    The men charged at them. Kai drew his blade out of its sheath and Mei Mei quickly moved to the side. All three men swung their swords to kill, and their blades made contact to block the moves. The head banded man thrust his sword to stab Mei Mei, but Kai saw him and swung the sword to deflect his. Then Kai kicked him hard and the head banded man flew backwards, crashing onto the wooden table, and then onto the ground. Kai continued to sword fight with the bearded man, and the bearded man swung his sword downward hard. Kai blocked the hit with his sword and struggled as the bearded man’s weight was forced down upon him.
    Kai shouted at Mei Mei, “GET OUT!”

    She nodded and quickly left the room. The head banded man saw her and got off the ground to chase after her. Kai saw him and with all of his strength, he pushed the bearded man off, making the bearded man staggered backwards. The head banded man ran out of the door and Kai chased after him, trailing behind was the bearded man. She headed down the stairs, and the head banded man was about to go down also when Kai stopped him. Mei Mei and the owner watched from the ground floor as the three swordsmen fought.

    Kai kicked the head banded man and he tumbled down the stairs. The bearded man swung his sword and Kai dodged it. His blade hit a pole and was stuck. With quickness, Kai swung his sword across his stomach, slicing into the flesh. The bearded man’s talisman fell on the floor where the pool of blood was forming. Then with his point blade downward, he stabbed the bearded man’s back. It protruded out of his chest and he fell to the ground dead. Kai pulled out his sword and ran down the stairs to the other man. The head banded man was still on the ground moaning in pain. Kai noticed that his leg was sprained from the fall and it was his chance to kill him. Immediately, Kai’s bloody point blade aimed at the man’s throat.

    “Please…we didn’t mean it. We only needed money…” the man pleaded.

    Kai didn’t care and was going to strike when Mei Mei shouted.

    “Stop! He’s already injured.”

    Kai looked at her confused. “But they almost killed us!”

    “I know, but he’s helpless now…”

    Frustrated but remained calm, Kai lowered his sword and let him go. The head banded man let out a huge sigh of relief. Suddenly the entrance doors swung opened widely and strong winds blew in with dirt particles. It blew against everyone’s faces and they used their arms to cover from the debris. Mei Mei knew what it was and shouted at Kai.

    “It’s a demon! HIDE!”

    Mei Mei and the owner quickly hid behind the counter. Kai was about to leave, but the injured man stopped him.

    “Please! Don’t leave me to die!”

    Kai saw his frightening face and quickly grabbed his hand. Kai didn’t have time to lift the head banded man up to his feet, so he dragged him to the closest place; behind the stairwell and both hid in the dark. Mei Mei and the owner peeked from the edge of the counter to see what type of demon it might be. The wind died and the demon entered inside the inn. Mei Mei and the owner’s eyes widened in horror when they saw that the demon was a Night Lurker. It had smelled blood from the dead man upstairs and came to collect his food. Both quietly ducked their heads back behind the counter and covered their mouths tightly with their hands to not scream.

    The place was silent and only the Night Lurker’s footsteps were heard. It started to walk up the stairs while Kai and the head banded man sat still. Mei Mei quickly, but quietly, crawled to the other end of the counter to peek and saw the men crouching down underneath the stairwell. The Night Lurker walked passed above them, and continued to go up until it got to the dead body; then it feasted.

    Mei Mei waved to Kai to get his attention. He saw her and Mei Mei quickly made some silent gestures to let him know it was a Night Lurker. She made a mouth chomping gesture, but Kai didn’t understand. Then she grabbed the owner and slightly moved his neck to the side. Her mouth wide opened, showing teeth, leaned close to his neck. Kai finally understood and whispered it to the head banded man what the demon was.

    The head banded man stunned to know that it was a Night Lurker and didn’t want his dead partner’s corpse to be tortured. He took a step forward to confront the demon, but Kai got a hold of his arm and pulled him back to stay put. Their movements disrupted the Night Lurker’s feast, and its head looked up, trying to figure out where it came from. Its mouth and chin smeared with thick red blood, and its pupils were dark as night. It snarled, showing its sharped bloody teeth as blood trickled down to its neck. Mei Mei and the man quickly duck their heads again, and the Night Lurker turned his head to where the counter was. Nobody was there. A minute passed and there was no more noises, so the Night Lurker went back to feast on the dead corpse.

    The head banded man relaxed, so Kai let go of his arm. Just then, he pushed Kai away from him, and Kai fell to the ground. The head banded man got up and limped out of the stairwell.

    “What are you doing!” Kai whispered.

    The head banded man ignored Kai and grabbed his sword on the ground.

    He aimed it at the demon and shouted, “NIGHT LURKER!”

    Mei Mei and the owner heard his voice and were in disbelief. They peeked from the edge of the counter and saw the head banded man stood at the bottom of the stairs, his sword pointing at it.

    “Stupid guy. Does he want to die?!” she whispered angrily.

    The Night Lurker turned his head and saw the injured man. It hissed at him.

    “I am not going to have you do this to my friend!”

    It stood up to face him. The head banded man’s heart sank and started to get teary to see his friend’s blood dripped down from the Night Lurker’s chin to the floor.

    He shouted at the others, “My new friends, get out of here.”

    Mei Mei, the owner, and Kai got out of their hiding places and regrouped. The Night Lurker was surprised to see more of them. They stood a couple of feet behind the head banded man.

    “Let’s fight this demon together,” Kai said.

    Mei Mei and the owner stared at Kai blankly.

    “Are you crazy?!” Mei Mei yelled.

    The head banded man slightly turned his head and looked at Kai from the corner of his eyes. “Both of you spared my life and saved me. Now it will be my turn to repay for both of your kindness.”

    Kai felt guilty. He came and patted him on the shoulder from the back, “I’m sorry that I’ve killed your friend…”

    The head banded man shut his eyes and tears fell down to his cheeks. He exhaled, “You shouldn’t apologize. It was us that caused you to kill.”

    “Hero, what is your name?” Kai asked.

    Hearing Kai called him a hero lightened his heart and he smiled. “Everyone calls me the Great Snatcher.”

    “I’m Yang Kai Li, but you can call me Kai.”

    “Kai…” he chuckled a bit, “We will see each other in the next life then.”

    Kai tightened his smile. “Take care.”

    All three of them ran out of the inn. The Night Lurker narrowed its eyes at them as they disappeared from its sight.

    The head banded man shouted, “HEY!” to get its attention.

    The Night Lurker looked at him. The head banded man pulled the talisman out of his belt and tossed it away. Then he cut his own palm with his sword. Blood started to ooze out from his palm to show it to the Night Lurker.

    “Come and feast demon. I’m ready for you!”

    The Night Lurker smelled his blood from where he was and licked his lips in ecstasy. It flew toward him with a loud hissing sound. The head banded man held his sword handle tightly as it came, ready to fight the Night Lurker.

    Outside, Kai stopped running. “I can’t let him die like this.”

    “WHAT?!” she said upsettingly.

    Kai looked at them. “You two go hide. I’m going back in to help him.”

    Kai drew out his sword and quickly ran back.

    “KAI!” she shouted, but it was too late. He had already gone inside the Inn.

    Kai saw the Night Lurker drinking the head banded man’s blood from his neck. He was already too late; the man was dead. Infuriated by his new friend’s death, he charged at the Night Lurker with his sword. It glanced up and saw Kai, and hissed. Then it saw the talisman that he was wearing and flew backwards, trying not to be close to him. While it flew, it swung its arms from the side inward and the wooden tables and chairs on both sides flew toward Kai. He saw the furniture and quickly dodged them before he got smashed. He rolled on the ground and his talisman fell out. The Night Lurker saw that he was vulnerable now and flew at him.
    It swung its clawed fingers but Kai dodged it. He countered it with his sword and stabbed it in the stomach. It didn’t pierce through the Night Lurker and Kai’s face struck in horror. The Night Lurker grinned and moved its body forward quickly to him, breaking his blades into pieces. It got a hold of his neck and lifted him up. Then it threw him toward the stairs and his back body hit the edge of one of the stairs. He tumbled down to the ground and lied in pain from the blow. It came and picked him up from his neck again. This time it was strangling him. Kai couldn’t breathe and started to struggle. It saw Kai’s tiny blood on the corner of his lip and opened its mouth. He saw its bloody sharped teeth and knew it was going to drink his blood.

    “HEY! UGLY DEMON!”

    Both turned to see Mei Mei standing there. Kai’s face was getting purple.

    She started to worry and in a stern tone of voice, she demanded, “Let him go!”

    The Night Lurker spoke in demon’s native tongue at her, “Little demon, why are you helping these unfortunate mortals?”

    She answered back in demon’s native tongue, “They are my friends.”

    In native tongue, “They are food for survival and not to make friends!”

    She continued in the native tongue. “There is another way instead of killing mortals!”

    It knew what she meant and didn’t like what she had to say. In native tongue, it shouted angrily, “NEVER!”

    She scoffed by its stubbornness. This time, she didn’t speak in native tongue. “Don’t make me hurt you!”

    The Night Lurker ignored her warning and was about to dig its teeth into Kai’s neck. A sudden burst of green energy came and hit the Night Lurker’s side face. It let go of Kai’s neck and staggered backward in shrilled pain. Kai collapsed to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Stunned by the blow, the Night Lurker turned to her and saw her green aura mist around her body. Her eyes changed from umber to a flaming gold fire. Still lying on the ground, Kai turned his head and saw her. This was his first time seeing her like this. She was not a scared and weak little girl he once knew. She was courageous and powerful.

    The Night Lurker was enraged by what she did and flew toward her. They fought, exchanging punches and kicks; both blocked and dodged every blow. She finally hit him with her index and middle fingers on its stomach. The Night Lurker flew far and hit the ground, spitting out the blood it drank.

    “I’m going to make you throw up all what you drank tonight!”

    She flew with quickness and picked the Night Lurker up on its feet. She punched him on the stomach many times and it vomited out more blood. Then she ended it with a hard punch in front of its face. The Night Lurker flew out of the inn and landed onto the ground dirt. She placed her hands on her hips and had a big grin on her face. The Night Lurker staggered to get up and was too weak to fight.

    In demon’s native tongue, he threatened, “Demon Traitor! You will die like the rest!” Then it flew and disappeared.

    She cared less about its threat. She had been called that name too many times that she got used to it. She remembered Kai and turned around to check on his wellbeing. He was sitting, leaning his body on one side, still trying to catch his breath.

    “Kai!”


    She ran and knelt next to him. “Are you alright?”

    “Yes,” then he saw her gold firing eyes. “Your eyes.”

    She looked away from him and sadly replied, “This is my demon form.”

    Kai felt bad, “I’m sorry…your path to mortality has been broken. It was my fault.”

    She shook her head, “Although I am a bit disappointed, I couldn’t let you die also.”

    “Thank you for saving me.”

    She had a big smile on her face. The owner walked in and saw his inn was totally destroyed-blood was everywhere on the ground and stairs, two dead bodies, and tables and chairs broken. Devastated, he collapsed to the ground onto his knees.

    “My life is ruin!” he cried, burying his face in his hands.

    Suddenly a warm light shined brightly and he looked up to see Mei Mei used her powers to clean everything up. All that were once broken were fixed and blood had disappeared. The dead bodies were cleaned as if there weren’t any wounds on them. The owner’s eyes widened in disbelief and blinked a couple of times by what he was seeing. He never knew that Mei Mei was an extraordinary magical person. After she was done, he was overjoyed, knelt down, and bowed to her.

    “Heavenly fairy, thank you.”

    Knowing that she wasn’t a fairy, she giggled. “I’m a demon,” she corrected.

    He was shocked by her identity. “Demon? But how could you be close to us when we have talismans?”

    She showed him a red beaded bracelet that was made out of jade on her right hand. “This. My grandma master gave it to me to protect me.”

    He looked up at her and was happy, “It’s a blessing to see a good demon.”

    Kai helped the owner get up. “We apologize for all of the troubles that we’ve caused.”

    “No need to apologize sir.”

    Then he and the others turned to the head banded man’s dead body. They were saddened to see a hero died in the fate of the demon’s hands.

    “He was a brave man,” she said sadly.

    Kai turned to the owner, “We will take the bodies and properly buried them so you won’t need to worry about it.”

    The owner nodded, “Thank you.”

    ---

    That morning, Kai and Mei Mei were outside of the village and had finished burying the bulky men. They knelt and stared at their wooden names. The head banded man’s name, The Great Snatcher, was written and the bearded man’s was The Great Snatcher’s friend, since his name was unknown to them.

    “May the both of you rest in peace,” said Kai.

    They got up and walked to their horses. Still feeling bad, Kai asked her, “What are you going to do about the path to Mortality?”

    “I will have to start all over again, but it will have to be under the harvest moon. That is when our energy rejuvenates the most.”

    “What about your golden eyes?”

    She got in front of him, changed her eye color back to umber, and giggled.

    “Show off.”

    She walked back to his side and nudged him on the arm, “Ey, do you want to know how to defeat demons easily?”

    From last night’s incident, he finally knew that he couldn’t defeat demons. They weren’t easy like people, so without the proper skills and trainings, his martial arts and swordskills were useless. Kai became interested. “How?”

    “The best people to go learn are from those who were once Celestial Immortals.”

    “You mean fallen immortals.”

    “Yes. I know one who is still alive.”

    Curious, he asked, “Who?”

    “My grandma master.”
    Last edited by skoo78; 07-24-14 at 10:32 PM.

  3. #43
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    Mystic River in searched for her. Should be Mystic River searching for her
    she wore a red jaded bead bracelet Should be jade bead bracelet
    She had seen him fought and killed, Should be She had seen him fight and kill
    Thanks Skoo78

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    Anh Nam. Thanks. You're awesome!

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    CHAPTER 19: THE QUAD BROTHERS BANDITS

    On a dirt path going to Mu Village, Cecilia, Xing Fu, and Physician Wei were coming back from visiting a patient. Xing Fu carried Physician Wei’s medicine box and his shoulders were getting sore.

    Xing Fu massaged his shoulder. “Physician Wei, I don’t understand how you can carry this big heavy box.”

    Physician Wei chuckled, “I’ve been carrying it for over thirty years, so I’m used to it.”

    Crossing her arms in front, Cecilia turned to Xing Fu, “If your shoulders hurt, then let me carry it.”

    Xing Fu shook his head, “You’re too tiny. I’m afraid this medicine box will break your back instead.”

    Offended, she purposely bumped him on the side hard and he staggered.

    She raised her voice, “I’m not weak as you think!” and huffed.

    Physician Wei laughed at their argument and told them to calm down. Xing Fu apologized and she forgave him. As they continued to have their light conversation, a group of bandits came out of the forest and surrounded them.

    Xing Fu held her hand, “Xiao Xing, don’t be scared…”

    She felt his hand trembling and knew he was more frightened than her and held his hand tight to calm him down. In her mind, she counted ten bandits; all wore scruffy brown and black outfits. Their hairs were messy as if they hadn’t combed it for a while, and some have overgrown beards and thick mustaches to cover half of their bottom faces. A man with a permanent scar on his left cheeks stroked his thick mustached as he leered at Cecilia, licking his lips. She saw his behavior and felt uncomfortable, so she looked away to avoid eye contact.

    The scarred face man said to his men, “Well, look what we have here.” He saw both of them holding hands and sniggered. “Beautiful, leave that weak man of yours and let me and my men show you a great time.”

    Xing Fu stepped in front of her to block them.

    “STAY AWAY FROM HER!” he yelled angrily.

    The scarred face man gave a sardonic laugh as he stared at Xing Fu’s physique.

    “What are you going to do? Kill me? I hardly doubt you can achieve that.” His men laughed and it made Xing Fu angry.

    The medicine box flung toward the laughing scarred face man and it hit his face. It fell onto the ground, pouring out little medicine bottles.

    “My medicine!” yelled Physician Wei.

    The scarred face man staggered backwards from the hit and his men stopped laughing. The scarred face man touched his forehead and saw blood on his hand. Angry, he pointed his sword at Xing Fu.

    “You bastard! You want to be a hero. Fine! You’ll die like one then!”

    He charged at Xing Fu with his sword raised upward, roaring like a beast. Cecilia’s fighting instinct triggered and quickly interfered. She pushed Xing Fu out of the way to the side and he fell to the ground. The sword missed, and the scarred face man met Cecilia’s gripped hands on his forearm instead. With all of her strength, she threw him across her shoulders and he flew to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

    His men saw their fourth in command leader hurt and charged at her with their swords. She turned her head and saw them coming from every angle. Two men arrived first and thrust their swords forward, aiming at her stomach, but found air, as Cecilia swung a hard chop onto one of the man’s back neck with the end of her hand. The blow so was hard that a shot of breath left him as he staggered and fell. The other man raised his sword to make his swing downward but met her front kick to the stomach instead. His body flew a couple of feet away from her and fell onto the ground. She saw the sword on the ground next to him and quickly picked it up. With the point blade down, she pierced it into his heart. The other men were already a few feet away from her, so she quickly pulled the sword out of the dead man and began to swordfight with them. The sword moved with grace as she twirled it around in her hand to defend their blades as they made their strikes.

    Physician Wei helped Xing Fu get up from the ground and both were stunned that she could fight. With nine bandits against one, Physician Wei was going to help her, but saw that she was in control of the situation.

    One by one, the bandits were killed with her sword until the scarred face man was left standing. Both stood at the opposite of each other with their sword stances, sweating and breathing heavily. The scarred face had never met such a tough opponent, especially a woman. He charged toward her with his sword raised high above; she too charged at him and both met in the middle with their metal blades clanged as they hit. Both exchanged swings and hits with their swords until she saw a vulnerable open spot to his lower abdomen and made her strike. Just as she calculated, the blade thrust into his lower abdomen and out of his back. He dropped his sword to the ground and looked down at where he was stabbed. Then he glanced at her in disbelief that he had lost. She quickly pulled out the blade from him and he fell forward, face down, and let out his last breath.

    Everything was over. She dropped the sword and collapsed onto her knees, exhausted from the long fight. She looked down at her bloody robe and hands…So much blood…and started to tremble from the horrific sight.

    Xing Fu and Physician Wei stood in awe, speechless of what they had just witnessed. Xing Fu couldn’t believe that a tiny woman like her could kill the bandits single-handed. To Physician Wei, he had never seen a person moved swiftly with a sword to kill and it made him wondered who she really was.

    Suddenly, Cecilia’s head started to throb and she shut her eyes tightly. The pain had worsened and she tried to fight it. Then something happened. Images of her being trained as an assassin in a secret base with others like her-shooting different guns, learning different types of martial arts and weapons, language skills, and computer skills projected from her mind to see.

    She shook her head in disbelief of what she was seeing and repeated, “No…No…”

    She saw herself shooting, beating, and killing targeted criminals. Then her being beaten, shot at, and tortured by them. She couldn’t take it anymore and let out a loud utterly cry which could be heard through the forest. Then she fainted onto the ground. Xing Fu and Physician Wei rushed to her side. Xing Fu picked her up from the ground and laid her on his front shoulder.

    He tried to wake her up, “Xiao Xing…Xiao Xing…”

    She didn’t respond. Physician Wei quickly took her pulse. “She overworked herself. Let’s take her back to the clinic.”

    “Alright.”

    Xing Fu picked her up and carried her to Mu Village.

    ---

    Cecilia woke up from fainting and saw that she was in a bedroom. She turned her head and saw Xing Fu’s dosing off in front of her. Now that he knew she could fight and had killed, she was afraid of him distancing himself from her. Losing him was like losing everything she knew and have. Her tears started to fall down. Xing Fu’s head slipped down from his hand and it woke him up. She saw his eyes opening and quickly turned her head the other way, hoping that he didn’t see her awake. Her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

    “Xiao Xing…I know that you’re awake.”

    She was ashamed to face him and more tears trickled down her face. He held her hand, but she quickly pulled her hand out of his and turned her body to face the wall.

    She choked on her words as she spoke, “I’m a killer.”

    Xing Fu shook his head, “No, you’re not.”

    She couldn’t speak since she was choking her own tears, so she shook her head, not believing his words.

    “If you’re a killer, then why did you save me and Physician Wei’s life?”

    His question made her think and her crying died down. She turned around and gave him a quizzical look. Xing Fu saw how horrible she looked-her face covered with strands of hair and wet with tears and nasal mucus. But that didn’t disgust him one bit. His hands raised to her face and parted her loose hairs to the side. With his fingers, he wiped her tears from her eyes and cheeks. Then his fingers moved down to her nose and mouth to wipe her nasal mucus. During all of this, she gazed at him, mesmerized by his affection of love for her. He smiled warmly down at her and held her hands.

    “Xiao Xing, I want you to know that no matter what you did, I will never judge you. You will always be my Xiao Xing. Please, share with me your troubles. I am here for you and will never let you go through this alone.”

    She nodded and more tears fell down to her cheeks from hearing his words. He wiped her tears again and slowly leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. This was his first time that his lips touched a part of her soft skin. Then he stroked her hair and continued to gaze into her hazel eyes.

    “How’s your headache?” he asked softly.

    “It’s better now.”

    “Physician Wei and Physician Guo are out in the main area waiting for us. They are not going to judge you ok?”

    She trusted him and nodded again.

    Xing Fu helped her get out of the bed and both walked out of the bedroom. In the main area, she saw the Physician Wei and Guo Jing stood waiting for them. They saw Xing Fu and Cecilia and were excited to see her awake.

    In front of the Physicians, she lowered her head. “Physician Wei, I am sorry if I gave you a big fright from the incident.”

    Physician Wei laughed loudly, “You do not need to apologize. I am actually happy that you saved us, or else we wouldn’t be alive.”

    His statement made her smile with no worries.

    Guo Jing directed his hands toward the table. “Come let’s have a seat.”

    They walked to the table and sat down. Guo Jing poured tea for all of them to drink. Physician Wei drank his and then looked at Cecilia.

    “Miss Xiao, your sword skills were excellent. I am impressed that you can fight.”

    Cecilia sighed heavily, “That shouldn’t be a compliment…” They were surprised of her answer and she continued, “During my headaches, my memories projected other images from my past. I saw myself being trained to kill people…I…killed so many…” Her brows furrowed, looking at them with her teary eyes.

    Xing Fu held her hand to comfort her. Physician Wei and Guo Jing glanced at each other, stunned by what she said.

    “This isn’t the first time…” she paused and took a deep breath before she continued. “I…I almost killed somebody.”

    All three shocked by what she said and exclaimed in unison, “What?!”

    “W…When?” asked Xing Fu.

    “It was when the con artist and his men tried to assault me.”

    Xing Fu got confused, “I thought Wu Jian was the one that saved your life.”

    “He covered for me…He saw me fought them and I begged him not to tell anyone.” A drop of tear fell on her cheek and she wiped it. “I was afraid of losing all of you if you knew.”

    Guo Jing had a friendly smile on his face and joked. “You’ve killed the bandits and we’re still here right?”

    That made her chuckle a bit and she felt better.

    He continued, “Remember, you need to prepare yourself emotionally when your memories come back. But don’t worry; we will help you get through this.”

    She looked at everyone, “Thank you for all of your support.”

    Xing Fu turned to her, “Xiao Xing, get yourself cleaned up so we can leave ok?”

    She nodded lightly.

    ---

    That night, Physician Wei stood in the middle of the garden, staring at the bright crescent moon. Guo Jing walked in and saw him. He knew his sworn brother was bothered by the morning incident and walked toward him.

    “Brother Wei…”

    He turned around and saw Guo Jing stood a couple of feet away from him.

    “It seemed to me that Miss Xiao’s situation troubles you greatly.”

    Physician Wei faintly smiled and then let out a sigh while he stroked his beard. “I’ve been thinking about what she said earlier. She may be an assassin.”

    Guo Jing’s eyes widened in surprise, “Are you sure?”

    Physician Wei nodded. “As an ex general of the perished Jiu Kingdom, I’ve seen many assassination attempts by enemies. Assassins are trained to kill. With their intense training, their body and mind becomes a killing weapon and kill with a blink of an eye.” He paused a bit as he thought about Cecilia; then he continued, “When I saw her kill those men, she didn’t have mercy in sparing any lives.”

    “But with her new memories, there is hope for her right?” asked Guo Jing.

    Physician Wei had no doubt about Cecilia’s genuine side. He thought about how fortunate she was to be surrounded by good people who cares and loves her. He nodded, “There is hope.”

    ---

    More bandits arrived at the killing scene that night. They saw their men’s dead bodies on the ground everywhere. With their torches in their hands, they identified their dead brothers and counted all ten bodies present. Two medium built twin brothers, Yi Chong Lin and Yi Chong Kun, saw their fourth brother in command’s dead body. Chong Lin rolled him over and saw the stab wound.

    His eyes started to get teary. “Brother…”

    The Yi twins were known for their ruthlessness and their huge saber swords. Made with the finest metal and gold back lining, their saber swords were never dull. They could cut through any metal and would not be damaged. Due to their massive size and heaviness, the Yi twins carried their swords on the back.

    Chong Kun knelt down and patted his back, “Chong Lin, we will find the killer. As for now, we need to go back and report this.”

    He nodded. Then he noticed something on ground and lowered the torch to see what it was. On the ground was Cecilia’s jaded heart that Xing Fu bought for her at Mu Village, and he picked it up.

    “Chong Kun, look.” He showed it to him. “Could this be the killer’s?”

    “It could be.”

    Chong Lin clenched the item in his hand tightly. He got up and shouted at their men, “Gather all the bodies and bring them back with us.”

    “Yes,” said the men.

    A day later, the bandits reached their hidden lair and the bodies were placed in a straight line on the ground. Yi Chong Lin and Yi Chong Kun stood to the side, as another man paced slowly back and forth in front of the dead bodies with the jaded heart in his hand. He felt the smoothness of the jade against his fingers and grasped a tight hold of it, silently releasing his anger. Around the man’s neck was Princess Ru Lan’s jaded pendant.

    This man was Tsui Man.

    Like Kai, his physique had changed also. Tsui Man worked out and had built more muscle mass. His hair grew down to his armpit. It was wavy and put into a low pony tail. He also grew a stubble beard which gave him a scruffy-look to match his hair. However, his scar on his left eyebrow still remained the same.

    Tsui Man became one of the leaders of the notorious bandits called, The Quad Brothers Bandits, that was formed by him, Yi twins, and Peng Fei. It branched off to four different territories to rule. Tsui Man in the East, Chong Lin in the West, Chong Kun in the North, and their dead brother, Peng Fei in the South. They were known to steal, kill and rape those who traveled to their territories. Within over eleven months, they had embedded fear into people’s minds and became well known to the underground (criminal) world and the Chu Kingdom official’s most wanted criminals.

    “Brother Tsui, what should we do about the south territory and the killer?” asked Chong Lin.

    “We will have to find another person to lead the south.” Then he glanced at the jaded heart, “For Brother Peng Fei, we will find the killer.”

    Chong Lin became concerned. “It will be hard to find the killer.”

    Tsui Man knew it would be easier to find the killer if Mortal Realm was advanced in technology. All he had with him when he came to the realm was the pendant and his clothes. He had to start over and build his new gang. Frustrated, he let out a big sigh. Then Chong Kun thought of something.

    “Brothers, there is one person that could help us. In the underground world there’s a man by the name of the Resource Man. I heard he is a master of information. If you want to know about somebody, he will tell you everything about that person.”

    “So he’s a human encyclopedia.” Tsui Man huffed, “And what the f**k does that have to do in finding the killer?”

    “He has connections. He can help us find someone that could trace down the killer for us with a price.”

    Tsui Man thought about it. This sh**ty hell hole does have people with extraordinary abilities comparing to my world. He nodded, “Fine. Tell that Resource Man to find the best tracker out there. I will double it if this tracker finds him.”

    “I will prepare my leave and go find the Resource Man then.”

    Tsui Man patted Chong Kun’s shoulder, “Bring some men with you just in case if there’s trouble.” Chong Kun nodded.

    Chong Lin turned to Chong Kun, “Be safe brother.”

    “I will,” and Chong Kun left the room.

    Tsui Man stared at their dead brother Peng Fei and his men and then turned to Chong Lin, “Let’s give them a proper burial.”

    ---

    In Tsui Man’s room, he took off his shirt, exposing his upper half naked body to get ready to sleep. He touched Princess Ru Lan’s pendant that hung around his neck and reminisced the night Alex Wong explained to him about other dimensions. He thought that Alex Wong was crazy, but now, the dead man was right. Tsui Man was stuck in another dimension and didn’t know how to get back home. At first, it was hard for him to adjust to the Mortal Realm. With no advance technology and modern transportation, it was hard to live. Nevertheless, the realm was hell on earth due to demons roaming the vast lands. At first he was scared out of his wits, but when he figured out they couldn’t hurt him, he felt better and safe.

    <<FLASHBACK

    After saving himself from the Mystic’s raging river, he wandered through the forest, tired and weak. He couldn’t understand how he, Cecilia, and Kai fell down from the sky, and then remembered Alex Wong’s words. He pulled out the pendant from his pocket and stared at the jaded pendant.

    “Was the crazy fool telling the truth?”

    He panned around the forest as he walked. Behind him, on the ground, was a tree vine that had been following him since he set foot into the forest. It crept slowly, inching its way to his feet. Then it happened. The vine wrapped around one of his foot and pulled him to the ground. He saw the vine wrapped around his foot, dragging him, and started to panic. In front, he saw a huge tree that have a mouth full of razor teeth ready to eat him and struggled to get free. He was close to the demon tree and started to scream in horror. Then all of a sudden, he felt something warm in his hand that held the jaded pendant. He looked and saw the jaded pendant emitted green streams of lights from the cracks of his fingers. Amazed by what was happening, the tree demon saw it and became frightened. Its vine that held his foot slipped away quickly and the tree demon disappeared. Scared, he quickly got up and ran as fast as he could out of the forest.

    FAST FORWARD TO PRESENT>>


    It was all because of Princess Ru Lan’s pendant that he was still alive. Like the talismans mortals wore to protect themselves, the pendant had the same effect BUT more. It protected him from demons, internal qi, and spells that would kill him. None of his brothers knew about the pendant’s capabilities and he made sure it stayed like that. Although they are all sworn brothers, he didn’t want them to start plotting against him all because of power and greed; therefore, he had to be cautious.

    The Yi twins and Peng Fei were the ones that educated him about the realms and how to navigate the vast lands. However, he never told them that he was from another world just because it wasn’t their business to know. Their assumption was that he came from the Seven Seas and he accepted it. With Tsui Man’s military and bomb backgrounds, he had taught his sworn brothers how to make bombs and shared military tactics for their raids. With his skillful knowledge, he also made his own guns and bullets for himself to use in case of an emergency.

    Tsui Man let go of the pendant. He blew the red candle and went to bed.
    Last edited by skoo78; 08-03-14 at 01:09 PM.

  6. #46
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    [testing] Somehow when I posted my story, I wasn't seeing it on my computer yesterday. Just making sure it works.

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    Thanks skoo78
    They could cut through any metals and would not be damaged. Should be metal.
    Due to their massive sizes and heaviness, the Yi twins carried their swords on the back. Should be size
    Last edited by Anh Nam; 07-30-14 at 10:20 PM.

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    CHAPTER 20: THE END OF A HAPPY DAY

    It had been a week since the bandit incident and Cecilia was back to her normal self. Xing Fu helped her deal with the incident by supporting her emotionally, reminding her that she was special in his eyes.

    A ray of sunlight beamed through her opened window and shone on her face. It woke her up, and her eyes squinted from its brightness. Puzzled by how her window was opened, she went to close it, but something else caught her eyes. Something blue was glowing on the table. Curious, she walked toward it and saw that it was a blue transparent flower. Its jelly-like petals swayed side-to-side as if it was dancing. She scratched her head, felt as if she had seen this flower before, but nothing came into her mind. Mesmerized by its unique beauty, she picked it up and touched it. The petals felt soft, like silk, between her fingertips. Then she sniffed the petals and it had a sweet heavenly scent to it. She then saw an envelope on the table with her name on it. She picked it up and opened it.

    “Dearest Xiao Xing. Get yourself ready and meet me outside. Bring the flower also. –Yu Xing Fu”

    Curious of what it might be, she quickly got herself ready and rushed outside. There he stood, outside in front, facing her with a warm smile. She walked toward him and stopped a foot away. Her loose strands of hair covered her face, and he gave a slight chuckle. Like always, he parted her strands of hair to the side.

    “You’re so anxious. You didn’t even take the time to do your hair.”

    She laughed lightly.

    He glanced down at the flower, “Do you like it?”

    She said excitingly, “Yes. It’s beautiful and…alive!” Then she saw that he had a handkerchief in his hand. “What’s that for?”
    He looked at the handkerchief and then back at her. “I want to blindfold you and take you somewhere.”

    “Where?”

    “It’s a surprise.”

    She was going to say something, but he interrupted her. “I know what you are you thinking. You want to know what it is. If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise right?”

    She let out a sigh and pursed her lips. “Fine. Blindfold me then.”

    He blindfolded her. To make sure that she couldn’t see, he waved in front of her face. She didn’t react to his hand motion so he was set.

    “Ok, here we go.”

    He took her hand and led her. He was careful and made sure she didn’t trip on anything. Xiao Xing heard birds chirping and little critters running around. She smelled the damp of the earth and knew she was in the forest. Then she heard rushing water. It was loud and big. She was getting nervous, and at the same time, excited of what this surprise was. Finally they stopped.

    “Now, I’m going to take the handkerchief off, but your eyes have to remain shut until I tell you to open, ok?”
    She nodded with a tight smile.

    Xing Fu took off the handkerchief and did what he told her to; her eyes were closed.

    He leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, “Open your eyes.”

    Her eyes slowly opened and squinted from the bright morning light. When her pupils readjusted, she saw the massive river in front of her. Then her eyes shifted down on land. Her hands covered her mouth, full of surprises of what she saw. Hundreds of transparent jelly-like flowers of different neon colors, swayed back and forth, like the one she had in her hand.

    “So?” he asked.

    She turned to him and with a huge smile, showing her teeth, and answered, “It’s so beautiful!” She raised the blue jelly-like flower up to his face, “So this is where you picked it from?”

    “Yes.”

    “How did you find this place?”

    “This was the place where I found you.”

    She raised a brow. “Really?”

    Xing Fu nodded and pointed at a patch of red jelly-like flowers close to the shore. “Over there was where your unconscious body was.”

    She slowly walked to the pile of flowers. From all of the other flowers, this pile was cluttered with one set of red flowers. She knelt down and touched it. Like the blue flower, it felt silky against her fingers.

    Xing Fu stood behind her. “This area use to be an open field full of half dead grasses and plants. But somehow, when I found you, it was given a new life.”

    She stood up and panned the area. Only about ten yards around them was affected, and outside of the circle was a regular forest.
    “Do you think I’ve created this?”

    He nodded. “I have a feeling that you did.”

    “How come you’ve never told me about this place?”

    “I wanted it to be a surprise…” He grabbed both of her hands, and she turned to look at him. His amber eyes gazed into hers. “Xiao Xing, I wanted to bring you here to see this magnificent area, because today marks the first year that I’ve found you.”

    He let go one of his hands and dug into his sash. He pulled out two small jaded birds and handed one in the palm of her hand.
    “These jaded love birds were my mothers, and she handed it down to me. Before she died, she told me to give one to the woman I love and settle down with.”

    He closed her fingers and she felt the outline of the jaded bird in her palm. “You’re the one that I love and want to settle down with Xiao Xing.”

    She couldn’t help but smiled wider, and her face started to blush.

    He continued, “Although I am not from a family of wealth nor have a title, I can give you my love in promising to take care of you, support you, and make you happy.” He held her hands nearby his chest. “Xiao Xing, let me laugh, cry, and grow old with you…” He paused for a bit from being nervous, then he asked, “Will you be my wife?”

    Tears of joy fell down to her cheeks and she nodded, “Yes.”

    Ecstatic by her answer, he quickly embraced her in his arms and stroked her hair. “I love you Xiao Xing…”

    “I love you too Xing Fu…”

    He pulled her away to gaze into her hazel eyes. She saw his eyes glistened, and a teardrop fell to his cheek. His love for her was full of deep emotions that it made her loved him even more. He was a genuine man of pure heart, who never once judged nor loved her less. This time, she raised her hand to his cheek and wiped his tear. Both laughed lightly.

    He held her chin and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. He lowered to her nose and kissed the tip of it…and then her soft lips. She immediately felt a shot of electricity flowed through her body and it felt good. Her hands wrapped around his neck, while his hands were around her waist as they kissed. His moist tongue slid between her parted lips and danced and curled with hers. She loved the smoothness of how he moved in her mouth and the taste of his sweet honey.

    He laid her down gently onto the small field of flowers and continued to passionately kiss her. His hands slipped into her hair, feeling the soft strands between his fingers. Then his lips moved down to her neck, softly kissing it, while one of his hands caressed her neck and down to her shoulder. She felt tickled from her neck and giggled. He stopped and lifted his head up to look at her, but she held his head to a still.

    She whispered, “Don’t stop…”

    He smiled and continued. He loved how her skin felt against his lips. They were as silky as the jelly-like flower petals, and he wanted more of it. His arms slipped behind her back and slowly pulled her collar shirt down, exposing her bare shoulders and cleavage. His kiss continued to her right shoulder, then down to her exposed chest, sucking, to taste her skin, while his hand gently squeeze one of her tendered breasts. He made his way back to her lips again and kissed her more.

    Small dots of golden lights started to emit from the jelly-like petals to the surface, making it look like thousands of fireflies. Cecilia felt something very bright and opened her eyes. She was astonished of what she saw and tapped Xing Fu’s shoulder to get his attention.

    “Xing Fu…” she said softly.

    He was still enjoying the taste of her as he nibbled her lower lip, and answered, “Mmmm?”

    “Look up…”

    He opened his eyes and looked to where she was staring. The glowing dots surrounded them, floating like clouds in the air. Xing Fu got off of Cecilia and both sat up to experience this magical moment. She touched one and it dispersed, like a miniature firecracker, and then disappeared. Both giggled from the experience and she touched a couple more. As she was being amused by the small fireworks, he lightly grabbed her bottom chin and turned her head to look at him.

    He softly spoke, “This place is as beautiful as you.” Both smiled and kissed again.

    ---

    They lay on the bed of flowers, her head against his chest, listening to his repetitive heartbeat, while his arm wrapped around her to feel her soft shoulder. They remained silent and adored this moment together.

    “If I die first, I want some of my ashes to spread on this magical place,” Xing Fu said.

    She lifted her head up and stared at him upsettingly. “Don’t say that!”

    He chuckled for making her thought wrongly. “What I am trying to say is that when I die old, I want some of my ashes to spread here. I still want to spend my whole life with my wife” Then he lightly tapped her nose with his index finger and continued, “and children.”

    Her hand touched his cheek and smiled, “Husband, you better grow old with me…” and leaned to kiss him on his lips again.

    ---

    That night in Cecilia’s room, she stared at the wall canvas of pictures that she drew a year ago. It had been a while since she hadn’t thought about the faceless man, Kai. He used to be in her mind, but Xing Fu had replaced him. Now that she was getting married to the man she loved, her past had come to a closure. If she ever regained her memories, she was ready to take on her emotions.
    One by one, she pulled down her drawings on the wall until none was left. Her hand touched the heart necklace and felt the diamonds for the last time. She took off the necklace from her neck and placed it with her drawings. Then she picked up the items, walked to one of the big wooden chests, and placed them inside.

    ---

    Tsui Man practiced his boxing skills with the punching bag that he made until Chong Lin entered in the room.
    “Brother Man, Brother Chong Kun is back.”

    Tsui Man stopped boxing. It had been almost three weeks that Chong Kun left, and he was anxious to know the outcome. He walked toward Chong Lin.

    “Any results?”

    “Yes. There are three of them.”

    Hearing that there was three surprised Tsui Man. He didn’t understand why there would be three people to track down one killer. He had to find out, so he walked out of the room with Chong Lin to meet Chong Kun and the others. In the main lobby, Chong Kun and the three guests stood patiently as they waited. Tsui Man and Chong Lin entered the lobby through the side entrance door and walked straight to Chong Kun. He patted Chong Kun’s shoulder.

    “Glad that you came back safely.”

    Chong Kun nodded, “I’m glad to be back Brother Man.”

    Then Tsui Man glanced at the three guests and looked at them up and down. Two men and a woman, all wore black, and have small blue wine bottles that hung on their side belts.

    To Tsui Man, the woman was very intriguing to look at. Her face was ivory with dark makeup-smoking color that brought out her honey eyes, and lips colored in black with a tint of red. Besides her tight clothes that showed her curves, she had strange symbols tattooed across her forehead like it was a head band. Her silver braided hair hung from one side in font, and she wore black gloves, which puzzled Tsui Man of why she would wear them in the middle of a hot summer.

    As for the other two, one wore a black cloak that covered most of his body, unknown if he was hiding some kind of weapon inside. His hair combed up into a high ponytail, and had a black leather hair piece to secure it. His eyebrows were thick and hid his small and slanted eyes, like he was hiding his soul for one to not see.

    The other man looked more sophisticated than the other two. His hair was combed nicely back into a half ponytail, and it was down to his waist. He wore a black robe and on his black sash, was a secured, long jaded flue made out of the purest green. The only thing that was unique about him was his facial complexion. The man’s skin was white as snow and has grey eyes that looked like a glistening jewel.

    Chong Kun introduced Tsui Man and Chong Lin to them. “Brothers, these are the people that are going to help us find the killer.” His hand directed to the woman, “She is Venomous Vixen, a witch known to kill with numerous of poisons. She is infamous for her Black Death Palm technique.” He directed to the cloaked man, “He is Navigator Xu, a tracker, and is known for his infamous invisible daggers that can pierce through five people in one strike,” and then to the flute man, “He is Du Yu Sheng, known to kill with his flute’s hidden blade and deadly melodies.”

    The three guests folded their hands in front, “Greetings Tsui Man.”

    Du Yu Sheng commented, “We’ve heard a lot about you in the underground world. You’re well known as the Unbeatable Tiger Tsui Man.”

    Venomous Vixen added, “We are honored to finally meet you.”

    Proud of his name being well known in the underground world, he laughed heartily. It was true what Du Yu Sheng said. He was unbeatable. Some had tried to kill him using their internal qi and spells, but lost. With the pendant, advanced weapons, and skill tactics, he thought the people of Mortal Realm could not defeat him.

    “So what is your price for tracking the killer?” Tsui Man asked them.

    Navigator Xu replied, “We don’t want money. We came to ask a favor in return.”

    That surprised Tsui Man and Chong Lin, and they turned to Chong Kun.

    Tsui Man got upset, “Brother, what hell is going on here?”

    Chong Kun eye’s widened in shock. He didn’t know that the three had a hidden agenda and shook his head. “I…I didn’t know! I swear!” Upset, he pointed at the three, “YOU FOOLED ME!”

    He drew his sabre sword halfway but Tsui Man stopped him.

    Tsui Man spoke to the Seekers in a stern voice, “I don’t do favors. Leave.”

    Du Yu Sheng scoffed, “Now we finally see the true Unbeatable Tiger Tsui Man is like. Weak like a cub. Such a disappointment!”

    Angry by his words, the Yi twins drew out their swords, but Tsui Man raised his arm to block them. “Stop!”

    Chong Lin turned to Tsui Man, “Brother, he mocked you!”

    Tsui Man was angry but kept calmed. He knew that the guests might be experts of martial arts and didn’t want his sworn brothers to die in their hands.

    “What is the favor?” he asked.

    Navigator Xu replied, “We want you to rescue our master.”

    Tsui Man scoffed and looked off to the side. His hands placed on his hips as he shook his head. “This is ridiculous,” he muttered. Then he stared coldly at them, “Who the hell are you three anyway?”

    “The Seekers,” answered Venomous Vixen proudly.

    The Yi twins gasped in fright from hearing their identity. Their bodies started to tremble and dropped their saber swords onto the ground. Tsui Man turned to look at the twins and saw their terrifying faces.

    He yelled at the Yi twins, “What the **** is wrong with you two?!”

    Chong Kun answered in his trembling voice, “Th…they are …the evil de…demon hunters…”

    The evil demon hunters. His brothers had told him about them. Their internal qi became ten times powerful when absorbing demons’ essences. It reminded him of his world, when one used steroids to enhance incredible strengths. It was like an addicted drug-once used, one could not live without it.

    Tsui Man’s hands were on his hips and he raised a brow. “So let me get this straight. YOU…” He pointed to all three of them, “…want ME to rescue your master Yao Du Yi?” and burst out laughing.

    The Seekers remained calm and only had wide grins on their faces as he continued, “Why the hell should I rescue him? Can’t you do that yourself?!” He pointed his finger back at him, “Look at me, I’m just an ordinary criminal, unlike you three, you guys are invincible and can do more damages. Now that is waste of talents!” and continued to laugh.

    The Yi brothers looked at each other and couldn’t believe that their brother was ridiculing the Seekers. Tsui Man could have been killed by them already for his foolish behavior. They remained silent and didn’t want to stir trouble; but at the same time, worried for their brother’s life.

    The Seekers glanced at each other, and Venomous Vixen nodded as a signal. All three began to charge at Tsui Man and attacked. The Yu brothers shouted at Tsui Man to watch out. Tsui Man saw the Seekers approaching fast at him.

    Punch, block. Kick, block. Another punch, block.

    He blocked every hit they made. Their martial arts were unimaginably full of strength, and their movements were so quick that Tsui Man couldn’t keep up with their hits and kicks. Venomous Vixen took off one of her gloves; her hand was tattooed with more symbols on it. All of a sudden, her hand turned black as night and there was a dark aura swirled around it. While Tsui Man was fighting with the other two, she flew with her open palm and struck him on the back with her infamous Black Death Palm Technique. An invisible force field on his body rippled, he staggered forward and sored from her hit, but wasn’t harmed.

    Seeing that he wasn’t killed by her technique, she yelled, “STOP!”

    All of them stopped from her command. She had a huge smile on her face while walking toward Tsui Man.

    She spoke proudly, “It is what we expected. Undefeated because you have something that is protecting you.”

    Surprised that she knew something about him, he pretended to be clueless. “I do not know what you’re talking about!”

    She smirked, knowing that he was playing dumb. “We, the Seekers, can sense it from you. But whatever it is, it’s an advantage for you to free our master.”

    Advantage? Tsui Man thought about Princess Ru Lan’s pendant and wondered, what other powerful magic it possessed. Since the Yi twins were present, he didn’t want to go any further into details about the pendant.

    Du Yu Sheng added, “In Mount Songgao’s Taoist sect, there is a cave called the God Cave of Light; it is where our Master is being imprisoned. No one can enter in unless they are a Celestial god, Elder, or Master of the Taoist sect. However, you can, due to what you possessed. It gives you a Celestial god aura and will confuse the light ‘god-like’ energy within the cave. We cannot rescue our master due to consuming too many demon essences and…” he paused for a second and saw that Tsui Man’s dumbfounded face. He could tell that Tsui Man was getting mused by this.

    Du Yu Sheng smirked and continued, “…The Taoist sect had bounded the area within two miles radius. No mortals or fallen immortals can use their powerful internal qi or spells. For demons, they will not dare to risk their lives to enter. Only mortals who do not have what I’ve said can enter the binding restriction area. You…” then he looked down at the Yi twins, who were still kneeling, “…and your Quad Brothers Bandits can enter with ease.” Then he looked at Tsui Man again, “With your amazing skill tactics and the strange protection, you can defeat the Taoists that are guarding that place…”

    From all of the information that they had told Tsui Man, he became curious of their master. From what his brothers told him, he knew that Yao Du Yi was a Celestial Prince that caused Mortal Realm to come close of extinction. But what he didn’t know was how powerful Yao Du Yi could be if he was set free. It was a risk, but his vengeance for his dead brother Peng Fei weighed more.

    “Find the killer and kill him first, then I’ll help you save your master.”

    Navigator Xu smirked, “Simple. Do you have any items from the killer?”

    Tsui Man took out Cecilia’s jaded heart from his shirt pocket and handed it to him. “This was found at the murdered scene.”

    Navigator Xu grabbed it and placed it in between his hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the item to feel its energy. Suddenly his middle forehead opened a third eye. It glow a white light, bright as the sun, and Tsui Man and the Yi twins watched in awe. Navigator Xu saw the image of the killer. His third eye led him to the Yu residence where she lived. She was getting measured for her wedding dress by a seamstress. He heard their conversation.

    “Miss Xiao, this wedding dress will look beautiful on you.”

    She smiled, “Thank you auntie, but are you sure it will be done in ten days from now?”

    The seamstress chuckled, “I’m a fast sewer so don’t worry about it.”

    She pursed her lips and nodded.

    “Now raised your arms…”

    Cecilia raised her arms as the woman continued to measure her size.

    Navigator Xu’s third eye closed and he opened his eyes. Everything was back to normal.

    “So?” asked Tsui Man curiously.

    Navigator Xu gave a slight laugh from what he saw. He handed the jaded heart back to Tsui Man as he spoke, “Your killer is a woman.”

    That shocked Tsui Man and the Yi twins.

    “WOMAN?!” said the Yi twins.

    He nodded, “She is call by Miss Xiao and lives in a small home a day and a half east from here. But that is not all; she is getting married in ten days from now.”

    “Well then, let’s pay a visit on her wedding day,” said Tsui Man with a big grin on his face.

    ---

    Firecrackers went off outside of Xing Fu and Cecilia’s residence, while a couple of children chased each other with sparks in their hands. Friends and close patients of the Physicians, Cecilia, and Xing Fu, came to celebrate their wedding day. The wedding wasn’t grandeur as nobles or royals, but it was perfect for the couple; small and private. There weren’t a lot of decorations-only red papers with the characters Shuangxi on the doors and in front, and a couple of red lanterns and firecrackers that hung outside of their place. Guests came inside and Physician Wei and Xing Fu greeted them.

    Xing Fu pursed his lips and sighed, “I wish Physician Guo could make it for the ceremony.”

    Physician Wei stroked his beard, “I know, but don’t worry. He will come after he’s done.”

    Xing Fu nodded.

    Physician Wei patted his shoulder, “It is almost time for the ceremony.”

    Physician Wei walked to the family altar to sit down, while Xing Fu waited for her arrival. Finally Cecilia arrived with the elderly lady, wearing all red, and her face was covered with a red see through veil. She saw Xing Fu, and he looked exceptionally handsome with the red outfit on. He had the biggest smile that made his face glowed. With the red long ribbon, both held onto the two ends, and walked down the red carpet to the family altar.

    Xing Fu was nervous, yet excited for this special day. They were finally going to be husband and wife. Memories of their times shared together came into his mind. He could not believe how a year had gone by so fast, and remembered like it was only yesterday that he met her. He was blessed to have her.

    As Cecilia walked down the aisle, she could see through her light veil of all the guests that came to celebrate their big day. She saw the girl that she helped saved a year ago at the clinic. The girl was taller and looked healthier. The girl smiled, showing dimples, at Cecilia as she passed, and it made Cecilia thought about her future. She hoped that her future daughter would grow tall and have cute deep dimples like the girl.

    At the family altar, they drank the nuptial cup. Both made their first kowtow to the heaven and earth, they turned around and kowtow to the family ancestors and Physician Wei, and then they turned to each other and was about to kowtow when they were interrupted.
    A dead man flew inside and rolled on the red carpet with his neck slit. Fresh blood trickled down from his neck and mixed with the red carpet. Everyone gasped in horror and screamed. They scattered back to where Xing Fu and Cecilia was. Cecilia took off her veil and saw the dead man. Then she looked up to see Tsui Man, Venomous Vixen, Navigator Xu, and two of Tsui Man’s men.

    Tsui Man clapped his hands to sarcastically congratulate the couple. “Well well well…” then he recognized her and raised his brows. “Cecilia Lin, you’re the KILLER?” and began to laugh loudly.

    Cecilia Lin? Her brows furrowed in confusion to the name he addressed her. Xing Fu saw her puzzling facial expression. He didn’t want any troubles since there were guests here, so he stood in front of Cecilia to face Tsui Man boldly.

    “I am sorry sir, but there is nobody by that name. This is a private wedding ceremony so please leave.”

    Angry, Tsui Man pointed at Xing Fu and shouted, “SHUT THE F**K UP. I KNOW WHO SHE IS!” he then glared at Cecilia, “You and Kai tried to kill me before, and now…you’ve killed my sworn brother. You will pay for this!”

    KAI?! Stunned by his name being mentioned, this rude man was someone that knew her true identity. Her eyes started to get teary and looked at Tsui Man.

    “Who are you and who is Kai?”

    He laughed sardonically, “STOP PLAYING DUMB CECILIA! I’m the one you and Kai failed to assassinate! As for Kai…” he looked at Xing Fu and scoffed, “I guess he is your ex-lover then…”

    A tear dropped down to her face as she shook her head. Images of her killing the bandits and her being trained to kill were coming back into her mind.

    Their guests were silent and scared. All they wanted to do was to get out but couldn’t. Tsui Man and his men had blocked the only exit.

    Xing Fu held her arm to comfort her and yelled at Tsui Man, “ENOUGH!”

    Physician Wei walked up to Tsui Man and his men and stood a couple of feet away from them. He directed his hand to the door and politely, yet cautiously, said, “Please, you are scaring the guests. Leave.”

    “F**K YOU OLD MAN!”

    Tsui Man threw a quick jab onto Physician Wei’s face but missed. Physician Wei had already saw it coming and deflected the hit with his hand, then struck an opened palm onto Tsui Man’s left shoulder. The force was strong and it made Tsui Man staggered backwards. Cecilia and Xing Fu were surprised and didn’t know that Physician Wei could fight. Physician Wei looked at Xing Fu and Cecilia from the corner of his eyes.

    “Get everyone out!”

    They nodded. All of the guests started to run to the windows to escape with Cecilia and Xing Fu helped.

    Tsui Man shouted, “KILL ALL OF THEM! I WANT NO SURVIVORS!” Then he stared at Cecilia, “BUT LEAVE HER. SHE’S MINE!”
    Tsui Man’s men attacked, killing the guests as they tried to escape, while Physician Wei fought with Dagger Xu.

    Cecilia got a few people out of the window when she felt a hard blow from the back. She staggered uncontrollably forward and accidentally pushed one of the guests onto the wall. She turned around and saw Tsui Man’s fist close to her face, and she dodged just in time. Tsui Man’s kicks were hard, making her hands stung from blocking it. He swung a hard side kick to her left shoulder, and she landed flat on the ground. He flew down to knee her on the chest, but missed, she had rolled to the side. Then she quickly swung a hard kick across his head and he rolled to the ground, shaking his head to refocus.

    Xing Fu saw her and ran to help, but met a blade in front of his face. He was close to being killed by Tsui Man’s man and ducked just in time. The blade swung forward and he ducked again, ran to grab a wooden chair close by, and threw it at the man, but missed. As the man approached, Xing Fu was scared but acted fast by throwing any items he could at him. Then Xing Fu flung another wooden chair at the man. His left hand came up and knocked it to the side, but he couldn’t dodged a gold bowl of incense full of ashes that came a second later, smacked his forehead hard and bounced back. His head was coated with hot ashes, some got into eyes, and he roared in pain. While the man was distracted, Xing Fu picked up a broken wooden leg table and swung with all of his strength across the man’s head. The man dropped to the ground; he did not move. Xing Fu panted and was shaken inside. He came up to the man and kicked him on the side for one last time, to make sure he was unresponsive.

    Close to the exit, Venomous Vixen struck her Black Death Palm at her victim’s chest, forcing her inner qi into him. The man’s body bowed in from the impact, his eyes bulged out and she pushed, and he literally flew ten feet away off the ground. His veins started to turn black, making his body go into a convulsion. White foams started to form out of his mouth and blood seeped through his eyes. Seconds later, the man lied motionless.

    Outside on the rooftop, Du Yu Sheng watched as the guests ran out of the house. Some flew out of the window and others tumbled to the ground, desperate to escape. Du Yu Sheng lifted his jaded flute to his lips and blew the first note of a deadly melody. The guests stopped and screamed, clasped their hands over their ears, screaming in excruciating pain. The sound continued, blood spurted from their eyes and nose, their screams turned to gurgles as blood gushed out of their mouths. They writhe on the ground and went still. After that was over, Du Yu Sheng dropped to the ground and pressed a notch on the flute. The blade sprung out and he marched inside the Yu residence.

    In the left corner of the parlor, Physician Wei continued to fight with Navigator Xu. Physician Wei shifted his weight on his right foot and his right hand quickly did five jabs on Navigator Xu’s sternum. Physician Wei felt the bone break, and the man fell to the ground. Physician Wei was ready to move in for the finishing kill when pain tore at his shoulder, stunning it, he looked to where at his shoulder and saw the thin blade covered in his blood, protruding. A sharp kicked onto his back sent him forward, the blade ripping his shoulder on his way out. He fell to the ground and looked at his attacker. A cold iron man, his pure white face with grey cold eyes glared at him. In the man’s right hand, he held the jaded sword flute. Physician Wei rose back on his feet and took off running to one of the bedrooms, followed behind closely was Du Yu Sheng and Venomous Vixen.

    Navigator Xu saw three people hiding and they dashed to the exit door. He flung two daggers out of his hand. The first dagger went through one guest’s neck and caught the other guy in front’s middle back. The second dagger pierced his last victim through the back of his head and came out of his eye ball. All three dropped to the ground lifeless. Then Navigator Xu panned around, all guests were killed, except for Cecilia and Xing Fu. He left Tsui Man to handle the two as he followed his other partners into the bedroom.

    Tsui Man jump kicked Cecilia, and she dodged it. She turned her body, aiming his neck; he shifted his weight and lowered himself, then rammed his fist into her abdomen, knocking off her feet. She landed with a thud, gasping for air, reeling in pain. She saw Xing Fu locked his arms around Tsui Man’s body, preventing him from attacking Cecilia. Tsui Man did a head butt, hitting Xing Fu’s nose. It stung him, but he didn’t let Tsui Man go. Tsui Man ran toward the wall, jumped and pushed off the wall, and they fell backwards. Xing Fu let go of him. Tsui Man leaped to his feet and began to smash his chest and stomach.

    Tsui Man was ready to finish him, when, BAM! Tsui Man’s back exploded in pain. Pieces of wood flew around him. He spun around to see his other attacker and met Cecilia’s foot across his face. He was yanked out of his feet and flipped in the air, landing hard next to Xing Fu. She grabbed his shirt collar with her left hand and struck Tsui Man repeatedly in the face. Blood poured out of his nose and his broken skins. She kept hitting him with all that rage and frustration.

    “YOU A**HOLE!” Punch. “YOU F**KEN KILLED EVERYONE!” Punch. “YOU’VE RUINED MY WEDDING!” Punch. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR THIS!”

    She raised her arm for another punch, but Xing Fu wrapped his arms around her and pulled her off of Tsui Man, “He’s gone! Stop Xiao Xing.”

    She stopped and panted as she stared at Tsui Man’s motionless body. Then she looked around and didn’t see Physician Wei. She heard fighting outside in the back and ran to help. When they got there, Physician Wei was already been beaten badly by the Seekers. She jumped in to help. Both fought the Seekers while Xing Fu watched on the side. Then he saw a shadow inside the house and it was Tsui Man. He held something metal and aimed at Cecilia. Xing Fu acted on instinct and ran toward her. BANG! The fight froze, and she turned to see Xing Fu right behind her. She faced him and saw his dazed look.

    “Xiao Xing…”

    Then he began to drop to the ground. Stunned, she tried to stop him from falling by wrapping her arm around him, but he dragged her to the ground. Her hand was warm and wet, she looked and saw blood. She shook her head in disbelief and a tear fell.

    “No…”

    Physician Wei turned and saw Xing Fu’s lifeless body held by Cecilia. His heart sunk and collapsed to the ground on his knees. “Xing Fu…”

    She let out a heartwrenching cry. “XING FU!”

    Then she saw Tsui Man inside the house with a gun and screamed in rage. Tsui Man pulled another trigger and the bullet came out, aiming at her head. Her eyes changed from hazel to grass green, and on the nape of her neck, appeared a green celtic diamond-shaped symbol. It shined so bright that Physician Wei and the Seekers behind her used their arms to shield their eyes. After the light disappeared, Tsui Man’s eyes widened in horror of what he saw next. The bullet stopped inches away from her forehead by an invisible force field. With her head nudged to the side, the bullet shot back at Tsui Man in speed of light, piercing through his right shoulder. The impact was so forcibly strong that his body flew back to the ground.

    Physician Wei and the Seekers couldn’t believe their eyes. By the symbol, they knew she was not an ordinary mortal. She rose to her feet and turned around. They saw her grass green eyes, full of raging flames.

    Navigator Xu’s voice shaken as he spoke. “A…goddess…”

    The Seekers saw her expressionless face and knew she had only one thing in mind. To kill. The Seekers charged at her with great speed, while Physician Wei watched from the ground. Cecilia swung her right arm across, huge invisible energy came out, knocking them off of their feet, and they landed on the ground. They were stunned by her powerful energy and quickly rose to their feet. They did a hand motion with their index and middle fingers, pointed at their blue wine bottle, and directed it into their face. Black streams of cloud came out of their wine bottles and went into their noses and mouths. After they consumed it, their eyes turned pure white. All three used their demon essences to bring out their deadly techniques to attack Cecilia. Venomous Vixen was able to throw the Black Death Palm where a trail of black smoke formed her hand. Navigator Xu spun around and threw fifty daggers out of his cloak, all at once, in maximum speed, and Du Yu Sheng played a powerful high tune melody and a powerful wave rippled through the air.

    Cecilia quickly raised both of her hands to form a protected shield against their attack. The daggers, the deadly waves, and Black Death Palm hit her shield with great forced that a huge breeze blew against her face. Her arms circled and did a circle formation, and then she thrust her arms forward with open palms at them. A huge energy bounced their weapons off the shield, making them back at the Seekers. All three dodged from their weapons by doing flips.

    Cecilia then flew toward them and fought. Venomous Vixen swung her poisonous hand at her chest, but missed, Cecilia had turned to the right; however, she met Yu Du Sheng’s blade and ducked down; it missed. Then Navigator Xu’s daggers flew to aim her lower body, but it also missed. She had jumped, twisting her body in the air. While in air, her foot hit Venomous Vixen and Yu Du Sheng across their faces, forcing their bodies to flip in the air and hit the ground. Cecilia landed with one knee bent down and thrust her right open palm at Navigator Xu. An invisible energy came out of her palm, hitting his torso. He flew off the ground, spitting out blood, and landed ten more feet away from her. While the Seekers lay on the ground from being wound, their eyes turned back to normal. With her hands in clawed position, she raised her arms, and the three Seekers were lifted from the air by their throats from an invisible force, struggling to breathe.

    Tsui Man watched from the window and was weakened by the knees, terrified of her powers. He rather flight than fight, knowing that he could not kill her. He quietly dashed out of the place unnoticed.

    Physician Wei couldn’t stand seeing her ruthless kills anymore. With his weak voice, he cried out, “Xiao Xing…stop…this is not you…Don’t be like them!”

    She heard his voice, “Physician Wei…”

    Her arms dropped down, making the Seekers fell to the ground gasping for air. Her eyes turned back to hazel and the diamond-shaped symbol on the nape of her neck vanished immediately. She looked down at her hands, they were trembling, stunned by what she did.

    Seeing that Cecilia was distracted, Venomous Vixen flew toward her with her Black Death Palm Technique. Physician Wei saw Venomous Vixen and shouted, “XIAO XING, IN FRONT OF YOU!”

    She looked up, but it was too late, Venomous Vixen hit her on her chest with her open palm. However, her palm was stuck on Cecilia’s chest, absorbing the demon essences out from her. Scared, she front kicked Cecilia, breaking the absorption, and Cecilia flew and landed next to Physician Wei. Cecilia’s chest started to burn, feeling the poison entered into her veins as it made its way to her heart. Her breathing became irregular and she was going into a convulsion. Physician Wei quickly hit her accupoints to freeze the flow of poison before it reached to her heart. The convulsion stopped, but she was weak and couldn’t move.
    The Seekers were also weak and badly injured, but they continued to approach them.

    Physician Wei softly spoke to Cecilia with teary eyes. “It was great to spend this life with you. Live on Xiao Xing…”

    She shook her head in disbelief of what he was going to do. She was too internally injured that she couldn’t speak; only tears flowed down her cheeks. Physician Wei placed her on the ground, while he rose up to his feet to face the three injured Seekers. As her body lay on the ground, she watched and cried as Physician Wei ran to fight with them. One strike followed by another as he injured the Seekers; but the Seekers fought back, hitting and slicing him in the front and back. She felt her breathing getting heavier…and slower…then her eyes couldn’t open to see the fight anymore. All she saw was blurriness…then everything turned dark.
    Last edited by skoo78; 08-03-14 at 01:06 PM. Reason: lessen the mistakes and added a few sentences

  9. #49
    Senior Member skoo78's Avatar
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    Thanks again Anh Nam! Some how I couldn't re edit my ch 19.

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    Thanks skoo78
    Xing Fu had helped her dealt with the incident. Should be helped her deal
    her eyes squint from its brightness. Should be squinted
    Puzzled of how her window was opened. Should be Puzzled by how
    Wish I could edit more by I am still working on the books for my business.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Anh Nam View Post
    Thanks skoo78
    Xing Fu had helped her dealt with the incident. Should be helped her deal
    her eyes squint from its brightness. Should be squinted
    Puzzled of how her window was opened. Should be Puzzled by how
    Wish I could edit more by I am still working on the books for my business.
    Thanks Anh Nam for the edits. I've cleaned it up a bit more (should have read it again for the hundredth time before posting it up. urgh). Kudos for your help. If only I can send a virtual gift to you . I really appreciate it and hope this doesn't distract you from your books.

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    Thank you skoo78 for writing this as I'm eagerly wait for the next chapter . All I can say is I feel bad for Kai because now he is probably get his heart broken once he finds Cici, and realizes she doesn't want to remember her past . Man I really hope he doesn't get NTR'd because that would just be god awful .
    Last edited by Chen Qingzhi; 08-06-14 at 10:05 PM.

  13. #53
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    Thanks for reading Chen Qingzhi and rest of the readers. Work has been busy and on top of that, I've hit a writer's block. Did some rearranging with my story board drawings for the next couple of chs. Thanks for patiently waiting and will get the next ch up soon this weekend.

    Ps. I do feel bad for Kai too.
    Last edited by skoo78; 08-07-14 at 02:38 PM.

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    Don't worry and take your time to continue writing this superb story skoo78.

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    thanks skoo78!!

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    Here is the next ch. Work is slow right now (Shh...lol. ), so I got time to finish my editing. Enjoy and thanks for reading.

    ---

    CHAPTER 21: VENGEANCE

    Cecilia woke up and noticed that she was in Xing Fu’s bed dressed in her white undergarment. She was confused by how she ended up here and remembered their fatal wedding day. They were under attack by Tsui Man and his men. They had killed all of the guests, Physician Wei, and Xing Fu, leaving her vulnerable for them to kill last. Then a heavy breathing was heard close to her left ear. She turned her head and was surprised to see Xing Fu sleeping peacefully next to her.

    Am I dreaming?” she thought to herself.

    Her eyes started to well up with tears in disbelief of his presence. He looked handsome like she remembered on their wedding day. Her body turned to face him and she stared hopelessly at him, wondering if he was only a figment of her imagination. Her right hand touched his left cheek and it was warm.

    He’s alive! Tears began to stream down her face.

    Xing Fu woke up from her touch. He turned his head and saw her face full of wet tears. He held her hand that was on his cheek and gave her a warm smile. Then he turned his body to face her.

    He wiped her tears and whispered, “Why are you crying?”

    She choked on her tears as she answered, “You didn’t die…”

    “Die?” he chuckled. “Wife, you’re so silly.” He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

    She raised a brow, “Wife?”

    “We had a wedding yesterday.” He lightly tapped her nose with his index finger, “Is your memory loss catching up to you?” and laughed.

    She thought to herself, “The wedding was real and the massacre was only a dream.” Her heart lightened in relief.
    “Now don’t cry anymore ok?”

    Her lips tightened with a smiled and she nodded.

    “Husband?”

    “mmm?”

    She scooted closer to him and their lips almost touched. She stroked his hair and said softly whispered, “Since I didn’t have any recollection of our wedding yesterday…make me yours again…”

    He liked what she said and had a big smile on his face. “My pleasure…”

    He leaned her back down on the bed and began to passionately kiss her. His tongue danced exotically with hers as she savored his sweet honey in her mouth. While their lips locked tight, both started to undress until their naked bodies were fully exposed to one another. His hands fondled her body and traveled down as they go to feel her hot silky skin against his fingers. When his fingers touched her sensitive spot, she felt a tingle, giving her the urge of wanting him. Her hands grasped tighter around his neck and head as he continued to play her body. Moments later, she felt his pride deep inside of her and a sound of painful delight came out of her. He began to harmonize with her as it danced in her in rhythms.

    After making love, both lay naked underneath the blanket to enjoy their moment of silence. Her head lay on his shoulder, stroking his bare chest, and questioned herself, how could she forget a special moment like this yesterday? She hugged him tight.

    He stared down at her. “What are you doing?”

    “I don’t want to forget this moment again.”

    He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her on the head. “If you forget, we can always do it again…”

    She blushed and lightly punched him on his rib cage.

    “Ow…” he chuckled.

    She raised her head to look at him and pouted, “It’s not fair that you have all the fun and I forget moments like this.”

    “I will write it down of what we did.”

    She liked the idea and gave him a big smile. “I love you…”

    I will always love you…” he said and kissed her forehead.

    ---

    As days turned to months, their love and affection for each other grew stronger than ever. She cooked for him, washed his clothes, helped him put on his clothes, and washed his feet at the end of the day. As for Xing Fu, he helped her with chores, combed and decorated her hair, and helped paint her eyebrows every morning. They bathed together, made love daily, and visited their magical place of jelly-like flowers to enjoy their quiet times. This was the life that she always wanted. To be with the man that she love and start a family with.

    One clear morning, as they walked back home from their magical place, she saw their front yard full of corpses, and pools of blood were everywhere on the ground and on their house’s exterior walls. Her eyes widened, stunned by all of this.

    “Wh…what happened? How did all of these dead bodies get here?”

    Xing Fu spoke softly, “Xiao Xing…it’s time to wake up…”

    Her heart suddenly sank and knew what he meant. Memories of their wedding massacre came rushing like a flood into her mind. She saw Tsui Man and his men disrupt their wedding ceremony and kill their guests, she and Physician Wei fought and got seriously wounded, Physician Wei being killed, and then she remembered…Xing Fu. He rushed to her and shielded his body from Tsui Man’s bullet. His dying body collapsed to the ground in her arms, and his warm blood on her hands.

    She shook her head in denial as tears flowed heavily down her face. “No…It can’t be…”

    He turned her to face him. “Xiao Xing…”

    She sniveled, looking sad and stunned at him. “It can’t be! I felt your warmth! We’ve kissed and made love!”

    He raised his hands and wiped her waterfall tears. “My dear Xiao Xing, for these past months, I have enjoyed every moment spent with you, but you have to realize that this is only a dream. You have to wake up and continue to live…”

    “No…I want to be with you!” she sobbed.

    His eyes glistened. “It is not your time. There are many things in life that you still have to do…”

    She couldn’t answer him. Her tears choked her words, making her hyperventilate. He was her life, her world, and her only love. He gave her a hug and stroked her black silky hair.

    “Xiao Xing…”

    She held him tight.

    “Please don’t leave me…”

    He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry, but I have to. Promise me to live your life to the fullest…Please, promise me.”
    She nodded, sobbing uncontrollably.

    Xing Fu comforted her, “Shhh…don’t cry anymore my silly Xiao Xing…”

    After her crying died down, he slowly pulled her away to look at her for the last time. Her face was a mess, and like always, he parted her hair to the side, and wiped her tears and nasal mucus from her face.

    “There, I can see my beautiful wife’s face…I wanted you to know that I will always love you…”

    He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. His body started to glow bright like the sun and then, he vanished. She didn’t feel his lips on hers anymore and opened her eyes. He was not in front of her and she began to search for him.

    “XING FU!!!”

    Devastated, she collapsed to the ground and realized that he was gone forever. She gave out a heart-wrenching cry.

    ---

    Cecilia muttered in her sleep, “Xing Fu…Xing Fu…”

    Guo Jing and a young man heard her and quickly ran to the bed where she lay. Happy, Guo Jing called her name to wake her up. She heard Guo Jing’s voice and woke up to see his blissful face hovered above her. Her eyes wandered the room and realized she was not in the Yu residence, but in Wei Chen Clinic. She frowned; saddened that she was back in the real world.

    “I’m so glad that you’re awake,” said Guo Jing.

    She looked at him. “How long have I been unconscious?” she asked in an airy voice
    .
    “Since this afternoon.”

    Only this afternoon? In her dream, her time spent with Xing Fu felt longer, making the days feel like months. She tried to sit up, but her body was too weak and her chest hurt. The young man quickly grabbed her shoulders and helped her sat up. Her eyes fixated on him, wondering who he might be. She noticed that his eyes were hazel like hers, with thick slanted eyebrows, and a heart shaped face. His black hair was tied up in a high bun and had a silver hair piece to secure it. He wore a blue outfit that was made out of fine silk, and she figured that he must be from a noble family.

    She glanced at Guo Jing, “Who is he?”

    The man introduced himself, “My name is Qiao Shun, son of Governor Qiao Wei Min of Mu Village.”

    Qiao Shun chuckled, “You seem to be surprised.”

    “I’ve never met the governor’s son before that is why.”

    “Miss Xiao, you are not the only one. Due to my constant traveling, most villagers only knew my name and have not seen my face also.”

    “I see…” Then she remembered the wedding massacre and her eyes widened, “XING FU!” she turned to Guo Jing, “Where’s Xing Fu?!”

    Guo Jing and Qiao Shun glanced at each other and sighed sadly. Guo Jing turned to her and had teary eyes.
    “He…”

    She knew the answer and interrupted Guo Jing, “You don’t have to say it anymore…I know…” and lowered her head in silent tears.
    “I’m sorry…”

    She whimpered in sadness, “Xing Fu…”

    Guo Jing thought about Physician Wei and began to cry with her. “Brother Wei…he…he is also dead…”

    <<Flashback

    Guo Jing and Qiao Shun rode their horses on their way to Xing Fu and Cecilia’s wedding.

    “Physician Guo, I appreciate that you’ve sacrificed your time to check on my mother’s health,” then he sighed, feeling guilty, “I’m sorry that you had to miss Mr. Yu and Miss Xiao’s wedding ceremony.”

    “Don’t worry about it. They’ll understand. Also, your mother is an old acquaintance of mine, so taking care of her health is my first priority.”

    Qiao Shun smiled in relief. “Thank you.”

    They reached the Yu residence and stopped. Their faces shocked in horror to see dead bodies of men, women, and children, slaughtered like animals everywhere on the ground. They got off their horses and quickly ran to check if there were any survivors. There was none. Then they heard fighting in the backyard and rushed toward it. In the backyard, they saw Du Yu Sheng stab Physician Wei in the stomach with his fluted sword.

    Guo Jing’s heart sank. “BROTHER WEI!”

    The Seeker and Physician Wei turned their heads and saw them.

    “Bro…ther…” said Physician Wei softly.

    Then Du Yu Sheng pulled out his blade and Physician Wei fell to the ground. Guo Jing was in tears and he ran to Physician Wei, while Qiao Shun flew toward the Seekers to fight. The Seekers had lost a lot of their internal qi and were badly wounded to continue to fight. They needed to retreat, so Navigator Xu threw three daggers at him. Qiao Shun saw the daggers and quickly maneuver his body in midair. The daggers missed, and he landed on the ground. By the time he glanced back at the Seekers, they were already gone. He turned around to check on Guo Jing, saw him holding dying Physician Wei in his arms, and walked toward them.

    Guo Jing sobbed harder as he heard Physician Wei’s breathing got heavier and slower. Physician Wei’s eyes were dazed and tried to speak, but his words were only air. He slowly turned his head to look at Cecilia, pointed his finger at her, as he tried to speak again.
    “Sh…she…g…mark…”

    Guo Jing and Qiao Shun looked at Cecilia’s unconscious body on the ground and wondered what Physician Wei was trying to say. Qiao Shun quickly ran to Cecilia to check on her. Physician Wei coughed out more blood and Guo Jing frantically tried to wipe the blood off of his mouth.

    “You…you will be alright…” he cried.

    Physician Wei looked at Guo Jing and smiled. Then he gasped and took his last breath; his body limped in Guo Jing’s arms.
    Guo Jing’s eyes bulged out in disbelief and cried out, “BROTHER WEI!!” and buried his face in Physician Wei’s body, sobbing.

    FAST FORWARD TO PRESENT>>
    The next morning, nearby the shore of Xing Fu and Cecilia’s magical place, Xing Fu’s body was on top of a bed made out of stacks of wood. On top were colorful jelly-like flowers that Cecilia had picked and decorated. Guo Jing and Qiao Shun stood close by her. Their eyes wandered and were astonished by this mystical place. They never knew something this beautiful existed.

    She gazed down at Xing Fu’s lifeless body. He looked as if he was only sleeping. She lowered her body to get a closer look at his colorless face and held his hand. It was cold and stiff, so she rubbed his hands and hoped to heat his skin.
    “Where’s your warmth that I long for?”

    No matter how many times she tried, his hand was still icy cold, so she stopped, and began to cry.

    “Why did you have to leave so early? We were supposed to grow old together…” Her heart felt heavy and tight from crying. She exhaled and continued, “Why heaven have to be so cruel?” She looked at the blue sky and shouted angrily, “Give Xing Fu back to me!” and sobbed hysterically as she placed his cold hand on her right cheek.

    Qiao Shun sighed heavily. Seeing a woman wept over her lost love was very heartbreaking. Then he heard sniffing and turned to see Guo Jing crying also.

    “He was a good kid…his love and kindness will be missed.”

    Qiao Sun patted his shoulder to comfort him; then he walked toward Cecilia and stood behind her.
    “Miss Xiao, it’s time…”

    Cecilia didn’t want to hear those words and didn’t move.

    “Miss Xiao…”

    Finally, she let go of Xing Fu’s hand and placed it by his side. Cecilia leaned toward Xing Fu’s face and kissed his cold lips. Then she touched his colorless face one last time to bid farewell.

    “I will miss you my love…”

    Cecilia and Guo Jing kneeled down in front, while Qiao Shun lit Xing Fu’s flowery bed with a torch. The wood caught on fire instantly; minutes later, Xing Fu’s body went up in flames. She watched as his body burned into crisp and wailed.

    After Xing Fu’s body turned to ashes, most of it was buried in the middle of the field of flowers. The rest was placed on a cloth. As Xing Fu’s wish, she began to sprinkle his ashes over the jelly-like flowers. The ashes formed faint clouds of smoke in front of her as it fell to the ground. She started to visualize his warmed smiling face in it. Xing Fu was her new world. He was the one that saved her life, gave her the name Xiao Xing, took care of her, encouraged her to find her memories and Kai, taught her how to cook, read, and write; and when he found out about her special qi and saw her killed the bandits, he never once got scared of her, judged her, nor loved her less.

    In silent tears, she spoke to him, “Xing Fu, I will continue to live my life to the fullest. We will meet again in the next life my love…I love you.”

    Gold dots of lights emerged from the petals and floated to the surface. They surrounded her as she continued to sprinkle the ashes. Guo Jing and Qiao Shun stood outside of the field and watched in awe of this magical moment. For a second, they thought she looked like an immortal goddess mourning for her mortal lover.

    “What is this place?” asked Qiao Shun.

    “This was where Xing Fu found Xiao Xing’s unconscious body.” Guo Jing became perplexed, “What I don’t understand is how this area suddenly blossomed to become a heavenly place.”

    Qiao Shun narrowed his eyes in suspicion at Cecilia. Hearing Guo Jing’s comment about the place made him think if she had something to do with it. He bent down and plucked a red jelly-like flower from the ground. It remained spry and both struck in amazement. Qiao Shun took out a handkerchief and carefully wrapped the flower up.

    Guo Jing saw what he was doing and asked, “What are you doing?”

    Qiao Shun looked at him and smiled. “This flower is unique. I’m going to give it to my mother.” Then he glanced at the field of flowers, “How come Physician Wei isn’t buried in this beautiful place?”

    “He wanted to be buried with his family’s grave site.”

    “I see.” Then Qiao Shun glanced at Cecilia. She had finished sprinkling Xing Fu’s ashes and stood still. “Let’s go to her.”
    Both walked toward her and stood next to her on each side. Guo Jing became worried, “Xiao Xing, are you alright?”
    She didn’t respond to his question. Her mind was too clouded in getting revenge. She clenched her fists. “I’m going to kill them…”

    “If you kill, you are no better than them,” said Guo Jing.

    She glowered at him of what he said. “I AM like them.”

    Her words sent chills down to his spine. He remembered what Physician Wei had told him about her possible identity of being an assassin. She was like them; a killing machine. He sighed and knew his words were meaningless to prevent her from killing.

    “You’re severely poisoned. If you use any of your martial arts, you will trigger the poison and die,” said Guo Jing.

    Her anger lessened and became worried about her health. She needed to be cured to get vengeance. “We can make an antidote right?”

    Guo Jing let out a big sigh and shook his head. “It’s impossible. Anyone strike by that witch’s poison palm dies immediately. You were lucky, because Physician Wei stopped the flow of the poison before it reached to your heart.”
    She looked away, “There’s no hope for me then…”

    “There IS another way RIGHT Physician Guo?” Qiao Shun looked at Guo Jing with a wide grin.

    Guo Jing bowled over by Qiao Shun’s slicked move.

    She turned to Guo Jing and demanded, “Tell me what you know!”

    He avoided eye contact and became anxious. “I…”

    “TELL ME! Or else I am going to touch you!” she threatened and pointed her finger at his shoulder.

    His eyes widened in fright and quickly leaped away from her before she touched him. Qiao Shun quietly laughed at the sight, yet he wondered what the touching was all about. He knew that Guo Jing was once a demon, but for her to touch him was something he had never seen.

    Qiao Shun decided to intervene and blocked in front of her. “Alright Miss Xiao, since Physician Guo is in fear of you touching him, I will tell you instead,” and chuckled.

    She folded her hands in front. “Go on…”

    Guo Jing grabbed Qiao Shun’s shoulder from behind to stop him from speaking further.

    “Qiao Shun…”

    Cecilia showed Guo Jing her finger again and Guo Jing became silence.

    Qiao Shun continued, “There’s a place that can heal any sorts of injuries, wounds, you name it. The place is called Immortal Tears and it’s located in Wu Tribe of Wu Mountain…”

    “Immortal Tears?” she muttered.

    He continued, “I’ve never been there but I’ve heard about it from my mother. It is Wu Tribe’s sacred place. Outsiders had tried to get to it but died on their way inside the Black Forest”

    “Why?”

    “Either they got lost and killed by Wu Tribe’s warriors, or got killed by…” Qiao Shun glanced at Guo Jing and patted his shoulder. Then he pointed at Guo Jing, “Demons.”

    “So you know Physician Guo was a demon.”

    “Yes.” He gave her a tight smile. “The Black Forest is a maze and it’s where Demons are trapped. A talisman is useless. It will only protect the person within a couple of hours and that’s it. Only the person with the mark of the Wu tribe symbol will be unharmed.” He looked at Guo Jing. “He knows the forest and could maneuver it with ease. The only problem is that he is a mortal now. Demons hate traitors and will kill them.”

    She smirked, “Don’t worry. That won’t be a problem.”

    “Oh? So, how are you going to pass the Black Forest then?”

    “I have my ways.” She turned to Guo Jing and saw his blanched face. She stood in front of him and exhaled. “I know you are scared, but please, help me get cured.” Her eyes started to well up with tears again as she thought about the wedding massacre. “Both of us have lost someone we’ve loved and cared. Physician Wei was your sworn brother and Xing Fu was my love. You know about my special qi. I won’t let anything bad happen to you when we enter the Black Forest…Please…”

    Tears fell from Guo Jing’s face and he wiped them. “Fine. I’ll go.”

    In joyful tears, she thanked Guo Jing. Qiao Shun was intrigued by her amount of courage to face the demon forest. Anyone would not dare to step foot in the forest after hearing many deaths. She, however, didn’t let that stopped her. Then he thought about her special qi. What is this special qi that she thinks it will protect her from demons? Qiao Shun needed to find out. He joined them of their happy moment.

    “This is great! I know the back roads of Chu Kingdom so you won’t encounter many mishaps. It is also the shortest way to get to Wu Tribe. Why don’t I and some of my men come along to protect the both of you?” said Qiao Shun.

    Guo Jing shook his head, “Thank you Qiao Shun, but I will have to say no. This is Xiao Xing and my battle. You also have your mother’s health to worry about. Family should always come first so please understand.”

    Qiao Shun nodded and sighed. “You’re right Physician Wei. Why don’t I draw the map then? Give me two days, then the both of you can depart.”

    Guo Jing and Cecilia were delighted to hear this and thanked Qiao Shun.

    “You’re welcome,” and Qiao Shun grinned.

    ---

    The Yi twins stood still as Tsui Man paced back and forth holding a wine bottle. He drank to numb his wounded body and to think about the situation. He was messed up pretty bad from Cecilia. She was a real tough woman to kill. His upper body was bandaged to cover the bullet wound, his side upper lip and lower corner were busted, and his skin on his face were bruised and torn. He took another gulp of wine. He couldn’t get the image of Cecilia stopping his bullet in midair out of his mind.
    Nobody could do that. Even in my world, it is impossible…

    He took another gulp.

    “What should we do about the deal with the Seekers?” asked Chong Lin.

    Tsui Man huffed angrily and left the main room as the Yi twins followed him behind. Tsui Man and the Yi twins entered in the Seekers’ guestroom and felt a strong energy around them. It made their bodies felt heavy as if it was pressing them to the ground. Tsui Man saw them sitting crossed leg meditating to recuperate their loss of internal qi.

    He glared at the Seekers and interrupted them. “I’m breaking the deal! You f***en Seekers cannot even kill that b***h!”

    The Seekers were distracted by the idiot and lost their concentration. They opened their eyes and turned to give Tsui Man a scowled look. They did not like what he said.

    Navigator Xu sneered. “You said you can handle her, but at the end, you ran off as a coward instead.”

    In fumed, Tsui Man pointed at Navigator Xu, “SHE’S A F***EN DEMON!”

    Venomous Vixen corrected him. “She’s a Celestial Goddess!”

    “Celestial…Demon…who gives a f**k what she is! You failed. End of story!”

    The three Seekers’ bloods were boiling. They wanted to kill him but they knew they could not. Navigator Xu threw a dagger and it stuck on the wooden floor nearby Tsui Man’s feet as a warning. That made Tsui Man and the Yi twins jumped.

    “You insolent fool!” said Navigator Xu angry.

    Tsui Man was going to curse them more, but Venomous Vixen spoke. “Unbeatable Tiger Tsui Man, don’t give up just yet. We know one person that can kill her for sure.”

    Tsui Man scoffed, “Who?”

    “Our master Yao Du Yi.”

    Tsui Man laughed hysterically.

    Du Yu Sheng smirked, “You have forgotten, Master Yao Du Yi is a Celestial god, and not just any god, but a Prince…”

    Tsui Man raised a brow, “IS? Are you saying that he is not a Fallen Immortal?”

    All three Seekers had wide grins on their faces. This was music to Tsui Man’s ears to hear that someone, a god, could kill Cecilia. He began to laugh evilly.

    “So is the deal back on?” asked Du Yu Sheng.

    “Fine.”

    “You should rest well and recover soon. You have a god to rescue,” said Venomous Vixen.

    Tsui Man agreed and left the room loudly laughing as the Yi twins closed the doors. The Seekers could still hear Tsui Man’s annoying laugh down the hall and detested him.

    Du Yu Sheng glanced at them, “After master is save, we find and take the protection away from him; then we kill him.” The others agreed and nodded.
    Last edited by skoo78; 08-09-14 at 12:34 AM.

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    Thanks skoo78 for chapter 21! I liked this chapter becuase of all of the characters that had conflicting emotions due to the recent events that transpired.

    Edit: Please Kai if you do find Cecilia don't lose you mind over it, because I can see him literally going insane over this since it was his only driving force/ will to survive for the past year and some months.
    Last edited by Chen Qingzhi; 08-09-14 at 05:22 PM.

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    Thanks skoo78
    She was confused of how she ended up here Should be by how she ended up here
    Then I will write it down of what we did so you can read it.” Should be I will write down what we did
    She saw Tsui Man and his men disrupted their wedding ceremony and killed their guests, Should be disrupt, kill
    They bathe together should be bathed
    Her tears choked her words, making her hyperventilating. Should be hyperventilate.
    making the days felt like months. Should be feel
    they saw Du Yu Sheng stabbed Physician Wei Should be stab

  19. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anh Nam View Post
    Thanks skoo78
    She was confused of how she ended up here Should be by how she ended up here
    Then I will write it down of what we did so you can read it.” Should be I will write down what we did
    She saw Tsui Man and his men disrupted their wedding ceremony and killed their guests, Should be disrupt, kill
    They bathe together should be bathed
    Her tears choked her words, making her hyperventilating. Should be hyperventilate.
    making the days felt like months. Should be feel
    they saw Du Yu Sheng stabbed Physician Wei Should be stab
    Thanks Anh Nam! You're awesome!

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    CHAPTER 22: GEGE MASTER

    Two days later.

    The day was hot with no wind to cool off the ancient earth. Only the white puffy clouds covered the sun to give shade once in a while. On the path going south, Mei Mei flew above Kai in her sparrow form. She flew back and forth and circled around him, enjoying the breeze in her free form.

    “This is so cooling to my feathers! You’re missing out Kai,” she giggled.

    “What do you expect me to do, flap my arms?”

    She turned back into her mortal form and walked beside him. She nodded excitingly, “You could after grandma master teaches you. Then you can fly with me to enjoy the breeze.” She elbowed him on the arm, “Eh, you might even spot Cecilia from above when you fly.”

    He liked the idea and nodded. “That’s not bad at all. Thank you little Mei Mei.” He patted her head.

    She brushed his hand away from her head and gave him a mean look. “Stop! I hate when you do that!” she crossed her arms in front and huffed. “You’re so annoying!”

    “I can’t help it. You such are a cute little bird,” he laughed teasing her.

    She turned and corrected him, “SPARROW!”

    “Whatever…same bird group…” he muttered.

    Mei Mei stuck her tongue out at him. Then she glanced ahead and immediately stopped. She tugged Kai’s arm.
    “Kai!”

    Kai saw Mei Mei’s unblinking eyes staring straight at something ahead. He turned his head to look and saw the abandoned Yu residence. There were dried blood on the ground and on the exterior walls, and broken objects on the ground everywhere.
    “Is this another demon massacre?” she asked.

    He raised a brow, “You tell me. You’re the demon.”

    She had forgotten for a split second that she was a demon and laughed slightly. “Oh…I guess being a mortal for over year does screw up a demon’s head,” she joked.

    She enhanced her sense of smell to track any demon’s essences. A couple of minutes later, she shrugged her shoulders. “Nope. It is a mortal’s doing.”

    “Let’s check the place then.”

    Both walked to the residence. As they got closer to the entrance, they saw torn red lanterns and leftover firecrackers on the ground; and on the windows were half ripped red papers of the name Shuangxi.

    “This was a wedding…” he said.

    Mei Mei frowned, “This is sad. Nobody should experience a tragedy on their wedding day.”

    He said nothing. He knew that in his world, he had killed many targeted criminals in similar events as this-from going to nightclubs to private birthday parties, he did it all. They entered inside and saw more dried blood on the ground and walls-some were smeared with blood hand prints and others were splashes of blood. The place was also crowded with wood debris and broken items. Two bloody swords and other small killing daggers were left on the ground. As Kai observed the tragic place, Mei Mei came out of Cecilia’s room with a cheerful look on her face. She ran to Kai to get his attention.

    “Kai look what I’ve found!” She showed a necklace that hung from on her neck. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

    He looked down and saw the sparkling diamonds. Immediately he recognized the necklace.

    She continued, “Isn’t it beau…”

    He quickly snatched the necklace and the silver string broke.

    “HEY!” she yelled upsettingly.

    He took a closer look to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The heart shape and the lining of the diamonds were the same.

    This is really Cici’s necklace.

    His eyes started to well up with tears as he smiled.

    She scratched her head, “Do you recognize this necklace?”

    He nodded and tried not to cry. “This is Cecilia’s necklace that I gave her."

    Mei Mei’s face was full of radiant and clasped her hands together in front. “I’m so happy for you!”

    He turned to her, “Where did you find this necklace?”

    She pointed at Cecilia’s room, “Over there.”

    Kai ran inside Cecilia’s room with Mei Mei. She pointed at the opened wooden chest.

    “I found it in there.”

    When he reached to the chest, he saw her drawings and picked it up. One by one he looked at them and tears began to trickle down his face. He saw the drawing of her necklace, an image of the faceless couple, a faceless short hair man, and many more.

    “She was here…all of this time she was living here …” he cried with joy.

    Mei Mei was relieved to know that she was alive and living well, but then she quickly frowned.

    “Uh, Kai…”

    Kai kept looking through Cecilia’s drawings while he answered her. “Yes?”

    “I…I don’t know how to say this but…If she lived here, then the attack…she may…” she paused and didn’t know how to explain it to him. All she knew was that Kai will be upset and get heartbroken.

    Kai’s smile suddenly turned upside down and his eyes widened in disbelief.

    He shook his head, “No…it can’t be…Cici cannot be…” he turned to her, grabbed both of her arms, and squeezed them hard.

    He yelled at her as tears continued to stream down his face, “She is still alive!”

    His fingers dug deep into her skin that it became unbearable for her to withstand.

    “Ow, Kai you’re hurting me!”

    Kai realized what he did and quickly let go of her shoulders. He took a deep breath to calm down and then looked away.
    “I’m sorry Mei Mei,” and he wiped his tears.

    She faintly smiled, “It is ok. I know you didn’t mean to.” She looked around and sighed sadly, “I felt a lot of pain and sorrow from all of the mortals that died here, but I don’t know if Cecilia was one of them.”

    He didn’t say anything.

    She continued, “Look, let’s keep on moving. When we meet my grandma master, she may know if Cecilia is still alive.”

    He nodded, “Alright.”

    Mei Mei left first while Kai stood to gaze at the room. It was small and cozy for a person to live here. At the corner of the room, he saw some makeup and hair pin accessories on a small wooden table. He walked to it and picked one of Cecilia’s hair pins. He grasped a hold of it in his hand and closed his eyes.

    “Cici, deep in my heart I know you are still alive. Wait for me.”

    ---

    They arrived at Mu Village and Mei Mei was elated to see so many people. She stopped, closed her eyes as she smiled, and sniffed the air.

    “I’m so glad to be back home.”

    On her right side, she saw some red balls of candy sticks from a vendor table and clasped her hands in front. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to it. When she reached to the candies, she grabbed a handful and took a bite. Mei Mei was full of satisfaction that she took some more bites. She giggled while her cheeks were stuffed with candies.

    “Miss, you have to pay for those…” said the man.

    Knowing that she had no manners, Kai asked, “How much?”

    “Two silver pieces,” said the man.

    Kai grabbed his money pouch, took out two silver pieces, and handed it to him. The man thanked him.

    After she swallowed a mouth full of candies, she exclaimed, “Mmm…It still have the same taste!” then she handed a stick to him. “Here, try it!”

    He took it and bit into the candy. It was sweet and melted in his mouth like chocolate. He had a smile on his face.

    “Not bad,” and took another bite.

    She giggled and took some more bites while they continued to walk through the crowded street.

    “This place has so many memories. I remember chasing gege master all across this village, because he stole my little silk pouch that grandma master gave to me. He threw it in a pig pen and I had to go in there to get it. He was a bully gege master!”

    “Why do you call him gege master? Aren’t you way older than him?” he asked curiously.

    “Let me explain it to you. I was captured by Grandma Master eighteen years ago. She was going to take me to the Black Forest, but her son saw me in my sparrow form and liked me. He pleaded his mother to spare my life and she did. Since his mother saw the goodness in me, she later advised me about the Righteous Path to Mortality to become a mortal being. When he knew about this, he then gave me my name, Little Qiao Mei Mei and took care of me.”

    Kai interrupted her, “So if you did became mortal back then, your age would have been zero and then you would have been younger than your gege.”

    She clasped her hand, “EXACTLY!”

    He shook his head sighing. “You demons with ages…Anyway, did you get your gege back for what he did then?” he asked.

    She chuckled. “Oh yes I did. I used my powers and had him stuck on the ceiling for half a day. He cried like a baby and shouted for his mommy and daddy.” Then she frowned, “After his parents found out what I did, I got punished.”

    “What did they do to you?”

    “Grandma Master placed me in a bird cage for three weeks.”

    Kai tried to detain himself to not laugh, but it exploded.

    She became offended and yelled. “It’s not funny! It was worse than living in Demon Realm!”

    Still laughing he replied, “I…I’m sorry…I couldn’t help it.” She huffed angrily and walk ahead of him.

    After a while, they finally reached their destination and stopped in front of the red iron doors. Mei Mei looked nervous and took a deep breath. Then she lifted the door knocker and knocked three times. Seconds later they heard noises from the other side. The door opened and revealed two servants, wearing dark grey outfits, looking at them up and down.

    “May we help you two?” asked one of the servants.

    She stepped into the resident and held her arms out wide as if she was going to hug them. “It’s me! Little Mei Mei!”

    The servants stared at her in silence for a couple of seconds; then they glanced at each other and began to laugh hysterically at her.
    “She said she’s Little Mei Mei!” laughed the other servant.

    Kai looked confused of why they would laugh at her. It was her home but they were ridiculing her. Mei Mei lowered her arms back down and pursed her lips.

    “Little miss, stop wasting our time and leave.”

    Her brows furrowed, “But I am Little Mei Mei!”

    The servant waved his hand forward for them to leave. “Go. Get out.”

    He pushed her on her right shoulder and she stumbled, bumping into Kai. Kai couldn’t bear the servant’s rudeness toward Mei Mei anymore, so he grabbed the servant’s hand and twisted to the side. The servant yelped in pain. Stunned, the other servant alarmed the others.

    “HELP, INTRUDERS!”

    Other servants quickly rushed from all directions to the front and surrounded Kai and Mei Mei.

    Mei Mei turned to Kai, “Don’t kill them…”

    Kai, still holding the servant’s wrist, used his weight to lean on one leg, and pushed the servant forward. He let go of the servant’s wrist and the servant staggered uncontrollably to the ground. The other servants began to charge at them.

    ---

    In the study room, Qiao Shun finished drawing the map and was preparing to leave when a servant hurriedly entered in. The servant panted and kneeled down in front of him.

    “Young master!”

    He turned and saw the frightened servant. “What’s wrong?”

    “Two strangers trespass and are attacking us!”

    Surprised, he rushed out of the room. Moments later, Qiao Shun reached to the entrance and saw Kai and Mei Mei fighting his servants. His body flipped in the air and landed where the fight was to intervene. Kai threw a punch to hit a servant’s torso when Qiao Shun deflected it with his hand. Kai’s arm flew up and Qiao Shun thrust an open palm onto Kai’s chest but missed; Kai had already dodged to the side. Both continued to block each other’s hits until Qiao Shun snuck a hit onto Kai’s torso with an open palm, making Kai staggered backwards. Qiao Shun stood there with his hands folded in the back with his servants on each side.

    Mei Mei’s eyes fixated on Qiao Shun. His scent hit her nose and she immediately recognized him. Kai was going to charge at Qiao Shun but Mei Mei stopped him. He stopped and turned to give her a quizzical look.

    “What are you doing?” he asked.

    “I know him,” she said softly.

    She had a big smile on her face and waved at Qiao Shun.

    “It’s me! Little Mei Mei!”

    Qiao Shun smirked, “Miss, you cannot be Little Mei Mei.”

    She frowned, “But I am! Don’t you recognize me?”

    He shook his head and was getting annoyed. “Stop pretending to be Little Mei Mei and leave!”

    Her brows furrowed. “But…”

    Something brushed against her feet and she looked down to see a small white furry dog scurrying passed her. She jumped to the side from the unexpected animal. The dog made a high pitch bark as it ran toward its master. Qiao Shun picked the dog up and turned its face to Mei Mei.

    “THIS is Little Mei Mei.” Then Qiao Shun teased, “If you want to be Little Mei Mei so badly…” He saw that she was cute and continued, “…I don’t mind that either,” and grinned.

    Laughter surrounded the whole place, making Mei Mei felt worthless. She frowned and Kai had enough of their jokes.

    “She is here to see her grandma master and gege master, and not a bunch of a**holes!”

    Gege master?

    Qiao Shun narrowed his eyes at her, wondering who she really was. Nobody called him by that name except a demon sparrow. He let go of the dog and walked toward her. He stood a foot away from her and searched deep in her eyes to find those golden colors, there were none. Then he thought of something. Still gazing at her, he quickly grabbed her right wrist and raised it up. Kai thought he was harming her and took a couple of steps to intervene.

    Qiao Shun turned to Kai, “Stop. I only wanted to see something from her.”

    Kai stopped but was on high alert. Qiao Shun looked at her wrist and saw the red jaded bracelet. Stunned, he glanced at her.

    “So you are really Little Mei Mei.”

    She nodded. “Gege master.”

    Happy to see her, he hugged her tight in his arms. “Little Mei Mei.”

    The servants became speechless and glanced at one another, while Kai smiled to see their happy reunion. He could not wait until it was his turn to be reunited with Cecilia. That feeling of longing for her physical affection and her sweet voice made his heart ached.

    ---

    Cecilia and Guo Jing waited at the clinic for Qiao Shun to come back with the map. They had been waiting since early morning and were anxious to leave. Then two men with swords entered in.

    “Are you Physician Guo and Miss Xiao?” asked one of the men.

    They saw the men and Guo Jing answered, “Yes, we are. You two are…”

    The men’s hands folded in front and they introduced themselves, “We are Young Master Qiao Shun’s men. I’m Hou Liang.”

    “…and I am Liao Wei.”

    Liao Wei handed a folded paper to them. “Due to an important matter, young master could not meet the both of you. This is the map that young master wished to give to the both of you.”

    Guo Jing took it from his hands and looked at it. The Map showed the landscape of Chu territory and Wu Mountain. There was a line that was drawn from Mu Village and ended at the foot of the Black Forest. Most of the path that they had to take weren’t open paths but more small trails. They had to go through forests and steep hills, cutting their way through villages to shorten the time and length of traveling.

    “Tell your young master we thank him for the map,” said Guo Jing.

    The men nodded and didn’t leave.

    She raised a brow. “Uh, aren’t both of you going to leave?”

    “Young master ordered us to accompany Guo Jing and Miss Xiao to Wu tribe,” said Huo Liang.

    Cecilia and Guo Jing glanced at each other in surprise. They didn’t expect Qiao Shun would do this when Guo Jing specifically told Qiao Shun not to help them.

    “I appreciate your young master’s kindness, but there’s no need. We can manage without any assistance,” said Guo Jing.

    “I’m sorry, but we have to obey his order,” said Liao Wei.

    Guo Jing was about to say something but Cecilia stopped him. She shook her head, “It’s ok. They can come with us.”
    Guo Jing nodded. “Fine…”

    “Young master already have four of his fastest stallions waiting at the front gate of the village for us. We should depart now before the sun sets,” said Liao Wei.

    Cecilia and Guo Jing nodded and left with the men.

    ---

    Mei Mei ran across the garden with her arms raised up to the sky, twirling around and giggling. Behind was Qiao Shun with his hands folded in the back, walking and watching her playful mannered. She transformed into her sparrow form, flew around the flowers, and landed on Qiao Shun’s right shoulder.

    He turned to her, “You have to be careful about your transformation. Most of the servants and maids are new here and will be frightened to see a demon.”

    She flew off his shoulder and turned back to her human form. She crossed her arms and huffed.

    “But I’m not a bad demon.”

    “I know, but people will talk. Look what happened this morning. The servants were surprised to hear me called you Little Mei Mei. Now, you are going to be the center of attention within these walls.”

    She raised her fist and narrowed her eyes, “Then I will teach them a lesson!”

    Qiao Shun chuckled seeing her get worked up. “Don’t worry about, rumors will fade. But if they do cause any harm onto my Little Mei Mei, they will get punished then.”

    Happy, her hands wrapped around his arm and she placed her head on his right shoulder. “I knew gege will always protect me.”
    He smiled down at her. “You know, when you disappeared, I thought you were killed by the demon hunters. I cried ten days and my parents would buy me different sparrows to comfort me, but it was never the same.”

    She giggled a bit to hear that he cried for her.

    “Where did you go?” he asked.

    She reminisced the past and began to have a glowering look. She let go of his arm and folded her arms in front.

    “That stupid demon hunter captured me and sent me to the Black Forest. I was so close to become a mortal but he had to ruin my Righteous Path to Mortality.” She turned to him, “I couldn’t help mortals if I was stuck in the Black Forest you know,” and pouted.

    “Well it’s a good thing that he didn’t kill you. I bet…” he paused.

    “Bet what?”

    He lightly pinched her cheek, “You were so cute that he couldn’t bear to kill you,” and laughed heartily.

    He let go of her cheek and continued to walk laughing. She stopped. Her face turned flushed red from his comment, and she placed both of her hands on her hot cheeks.

    Why does my face suddenly feel so hot?

    Then she touched her chest.

    Why does my heart beat so fast when he did that?

    She had a big smile and ran to catch up with him. During their walk, she told him about her adventure in the Black Forest when she was captured. She told him how she was bullied by other demons because she didn’t want to be like them-full of hatred and wanted to feed off from mortals. Then she told him about her escape and met Kai. She explained to Qiao Shun who Kai was and his search for his lost love, Cecilia Lin. She told him how Kai protected her, so she could continue her Path to Mortality for a year. Then she frowned when she told Qiao Shun about their encounter with the Lurker and how she had to break the Path to Mortality to save Kai’s life.

    Qiao Shun picked a pink blossom flower from a tree branch and handed it to her.

    “Here, for you. My little Mei Mei has gone through so much and I wasn’t there to take your burdens away. From now on, I will not let my Little Mei Mei experience anymore hardships.”

    She felt better and gave a big smile, showing teeth. “Gege, you’re the best!” and hugged him.

    He patted her back. “Yang Kai Li is very dedicated to find his lost love. I admired him a lot,” said Qiao Shun.

    She let out a big sigh, “It’s romantic but sad at the same time to know he have been separated from his Cecilia.”

    “Just like you and me?”

    She quickly pulled away from him and gave a quizzical look. He chuckled by her facial expression and changed the subject.

    “So, what do you want me to help Kai with?”

    “I want grandma master to help teach him so he can defeat demons.”

    He had a glum looked on his face and sighed. “I’m sorry, I cannot let that happen.”

    She tugged his sleeve, “Why gege?”

    His eyes started to get teary and looked away, “My mother is dying.”

    She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. “Can I see her?”

    He shook his head, “Not today. She’s resting. Father has been there with her every day to keep her company.”

    She started to sob, “Grandma master…Little Mei Mei just got back home…don’t leave yet…”

    Qiao Shun hugged her again and patted her back to comfort her. Seeing her cry saddened him as he thought about his mother’s last stage of life. He was about to cry also, but held it in to keep himself strong for Mei Mei.

    ---

    In a guestroom of the east wing, Kai stared down at the diamond necklace in the palm of his hand. He started to reminisced his and Cecilia’s times spent together. He knew her for seventeen years and had gone through a lot together. With so many good times, there were also bad, scary, and funny times. He remembered when she tried to bake for the first time. It was his twentieth birthday and she wanted to surprise him of her skills. When she presented the cake to him, it was charcoaled and hard as stone. Kai laughed from the memory and held the necklace tight in his hand.

    His front door swung opened and Mei Mei and Qiao Shun entered in. Kai got up and walked toward them, anxious to see Qiao Shun’s mother.

    “Am I going to see her?” Kai asked.

    “Not today. My mother is resting now. When she is ready to see you, then I will let you know,” answered Qiao Shun.

    Upset, Kai raised his voice, “What do you mean?! How long am I going to wait for her? Honestly, I don’t really care about her teaching me. I only wanted her to tell me what happened to Cecilia.”

    Qiao Shun was silent.

    Mei Mei cried out, “Grandma master is dying Kai!”

    Kai was baffled of the news and turned to Qiao Shun, “I…I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I won’t bother her then.”

    Qiao Shun tightened his smile. “Thank you. I will inform you when she is capable in meeting you. As for now, please be patient.”
    Kai nodded.

    Qiao Shun was about to leave when he saw Mei Mei stood there. “Little Mei Mei, aren’t you going to leave?”

    “Why? I sleep with Kai.”

    Qiao Shun glanced at Kai and then her. “Unmarried Man and woman should not sleep in one room.”

    He grabbed her wrist and dragged her out of the room. Kai could hear their voices as they left.

    “But…gege…”

    “There are a lot of guestrooms in this Manor. I will choose one for you.”

    Kai shook his head and smiled.
    Last edited by skoo78; 08-11-14 at 09:54 PM.

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