Dual Sword Martial
"Are you telling me that girl has been drinking poison away without even sneezing?" Ah Duo clutched her forehead and glared at Soso who was kneeling on the floor in front of her. The young girl had a terrified expression on her face and she could barely get a word out.
"I-I don't know anything, Madam. Please… Please spare my sister." Soso fell at Ah Duo's feet while sobbing loudly.
"Ugh. Move aside, you filthy thing. I gave you a chance but you let it go and that girl is going to leave by morning. I have no use for you." Ah Duo kicked Soso away and motioned for someone to come out.
"Take care of her without causing a mess." Ah Duo left the room and a masked man emerged from the shadows at her order.
"Lady! Please spare me! Please! I don't know anything. Please-" Soso's screams were cut off in an instant and Ah Duo clutched her head in pain.
"Fuck. How hard is it to kill a single useless girl? Now she even knows martial arts. I'll just have to wait for the Dual Sword Martial to make his move now." She limped to her room in pain and collapsed the moment she entered from a severe headache. Yichen, who had been watching everything from a distance, clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth,
"It will be over soon, mother."
************************************************************************
"Have you seen Soso anywhere?" Daiyu had woken up at dawn to get ready for her journey but Soso was nowhere to be found. As expected, someone had mixed poison in her food the day before but she kept quiet as Haoran had instructed.
"I'm not sure, Princess. She was here last night…" The young maid shook her head. No one had seen Soso since that night. Daiyu had a bad feeling about it since Soso never really left her side if she was in the Azure Protection Hall. She would've never missed out on saying goodbyes since Daiyu would be leaving for a year this time.
"I think she was saying something about her sister. Soso's sister is quite ill so she might have gone to see her. Perhaps something urgent happened?" The maid spoke after remembering the conversation they had a couple days ago. She recalled Soso was looking pale and anxious that day.
"Hmm. Tell someone to check up on Soso and her sister." Even though it made sense, something kept nagging at Daiyu's consciousness.
'Ah, maybe I've become too paranoid.'
"Princess, are you ready to depart?" Zihan interrupted her thoughts and Daiyu shrugged off the ominous feeling.
"Yes, Master Zihan!" She picked up the small bag she had packed with a change of clothes, food and a pouch with some silver taels. Daiyu tucked her moonlight dagger in her sleeve and carefully placed the hairpin that belonged to her mother in her vest. Haoran had said he would come back once they had finished descending down the mountains.
The two began walking down the ten thousand peaks and finally reached the small village that was settled on the outskirts. The village was quite small but the environment looked calm and peaceful.
"So, have you thought about where you want to go?" Zihan asked as they walked down the village. The villagers seemed a bit wary of them since they were wearing luxurious clothes and carrying swords.
"I wish to see the Northern Sea Ice Palace. I'm not sure where else we can go." Daiyu replied with a nonchalant expression and curiously looked at the goods that had been spread out in the marketplace.
"Why don't we go to Sichuan first, before going to the North?"
"Sichuan?"
"They are holding a Young Phoenix Martial Tournament for young and upcoming martial artists in Sichuan. The Tang Family is hosting it this time. They broke off from the Justice Alliance right around the time of the Orthodox-Demonic War. I think they are extending a hand for an amicable relationship with the Justice Factions after all this time."
"Will the Demonic Cult be participating?"
"Well, the Cult usually doesn't take interest in matters outside so unless some traveler like you participates, there won't be anyone else." Zihan sped up as they exited the village and the two began running through the rugged mountainous area. Daiyu could hardly keep up with Zihan but she used the Crimson Butterfly Technique so she didn't lose sight of him
Suddenly, Zihan stopped running and halted in the middle of a small clearing. He looked around with a serious expression before unsheathing his sword. Daiyu stood beside him with a bewildered expression as she caught her breath. It was amazing to see Zihan who was totally unfazed even after running for a while at such a high speed.
"I think the Dual Sword Martial is here, Princess." Daiyu had already passed on the information she had gotten from Yichen but she didn't expect the enemy to appear so soon and so close to the Cult premises.
Daiyu took out the Violet Blossom and stood beside Zihan, looking around with anxiety and anticipation. Although she knew Zihan would never let them harm her, such battles were hard to predict. After a few moments, a huge man with a scruffy appearance emerged from behind the trees, followed by some masked men.
"I didn't expect you to find me so soon, Boqin." Zihan looked relatively relaxed even though he was heavily outnumbered by the enemies. The Dual Sword Martial, Boqin, took out his two heavy blades that were strapped to his back and laughed maniacally.
"I've been looking forward to this day for more than a decade. Of course I was in a hurry." He had a crazed look in his eyes and Daiyu felt suffocated from the killing intent he was releasing. His swords began shining with qi and Zihan's thin blade also began glowing a bright crimson red. The tension between the two was heavy, and the two stood facing each other without saying anything for a moment.
"Stay behind me, Princess. No matter what, do not get separated from me. I shall end this soon." Zihan spoke without looking back and he disappeared with a blur before reappearing in front of Boqin. Zihan delivered the first attack and Boqin screamed while pushing Zihan's sword back.
"Soon? Today is your last day, you girly bastard. I will rip you apart today before I take that little Princess of yours." Boqin was quite fast, especially for his bulky build but he could never outmatch Zihan when it came to speed. Zihan blocked both of Boqin's blades before thrusting his palm out, which sent Boqin rolling back.
Without wasting a moment, Zihan attacked Boqin again and the two began parrying with their swords. The masked men just stood quietly while they watched the two duel to death but as soon as they saw Boqin being pushed in a corner, two out of the six men ran to attack Zihan.
He masterfully dodged their attacks but sustained a shallow injury on his back from their sword.
"Are you trying to gang up on me? How pathetic. You could never kill me by yourself anyway." Zihan smirked and suddenly, a dark and ominous aura began covering his body.
"All of you, stop staring and kill him!" Boqin screamed and lunged at Zihan with a thunderous roar. All of the masked assailants except for one jumped at Zihan together. The last one appeared in front of Daiyu and let out a menacing chuckle.
"So we finally meet, Princess. You managed to kill my men the last time but today I will deal with you myself." The man took out his sword and lunged at Daiyu without a moment's notice.
"Dodge!" Haoran, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, screamed at Daiyu who rolled to the side to dodge his attack. The ground where she was standing split apart and her eyes widened with shock.
"Run away now, you idiot. You can't beat that guy as you are right now." Haoran urged Daiyu to run but her legs wouldn't move. The pressure that man was giving off was enough to immobilize her.
"Get up, you stupid girl!" Haoran screamed again and Daiyu managed to get back up on her feet.
"Oh? You can withstand my killing intent, huh?" The man chuckled and lazily raised his sword to attack again. Daiyu dug her heels in the ground to prepare herself for dodging the attack and running, when something strange happened.
The man's hand stopped midair, as if something was holding it back. He had a bewildered expression in his eyes and his eyes began bulging out, as if something was choking him. Daiyu looked past him to see that all seven of the men were standing immobile and speechless.
"Puppeteering skill huh? Not bad." Daiyu heard Haoran speak with an impressed voice. She had never heard him compliment someone before. She looked at him inquisitively and he shook his head.
"Look closely. That guy is using his qi as threads to control them." At Haoran's words, Daiyu zeroed on Zihan's hand and she could see fine threads extending from each one of his fingers.
"Are you alright, Princess?" Zihan asked in a relaxed voice. She couldn't notice any strain his voice.
"Y-yes." Daiyu was flustered with what was happening. She knew that Zihan was strong but she had no idea that he had such amazing skills.
"Now then, how should I kill a lot of you?" Zihan smiled but even Daiyu could see the anger lacing his smile.
"Keuk!" Boqin tried to speak but only incomprehensible sounds came out instead.
"I'd rather not waste my time here so I'll be quick. I wish I could tear your limbs one by one but I'd rather not dirty my hands so soon." Zihan sighed and flicked his wrist. In an instant, all seven of the men were decapitated and their heads rolled on the ground. The dark aura around Zihan vanished and he sheathed his sword once again.
Daiyu's eyes widened at the sight and her head turned blank. Was a person truly capable of doing something like this? She was shocked by how strong Zihan was. She already knew that he held the highest position within the Cult after her father, but she had no idea about the level of his martial prowess. Until today, that is.
"Princess?" Zihan put his hand on Daiyu's shoulder which made her come back to reality. She couldn't afford to waste her time here right now. She took a deep breath and sheathed her sword and turned to look at Zihan, who had his usual warm expression on his face.
"Is your back alright?" Daiyu was worried about the injury Zihan had sustained earlier.
"I'm alright, it is barely a scratch. Shall we go to Guizhou today? I need to change these clothes and we can rest up in an inn today"
"I'll come around when reach Guizhou. I have no intention of running with the two of you. It takes too much energy. Also, don't think too much about what happened. Take this as a lesson and work hard to get strong, you nitwit." Haoran didn't wait for a response and disappeared after saying that. His words were enough to calm her down.
"Alright then. Let's go to Guizhou." Daiyu nodded and began running with Zihan. She did not turn back to see the headless corpses of the men lying on the forest ground again. It was a part of being martial artist she had to accept. After all, one can either or be killed in Jianghu.