Traveling
Wu Jian stood before Hua Xue with barely a chih separating them. His dominant foot was touching the outer part of her foot. Neither of them were wearing shoes, so he could feel both the coarse wood of the airship and the soft skin of her foot. Their knees were both bent and they kept one hand behind their backs. The other hand was raised before them, the dorsal side of their hands touching.
Mei Xilan, Yu Chenguang, and his wives were also present. They stood off to the side, watching. None of them said a word, however, and the silence was almost stifling. Wu Jian felt like a bowstring being drawn so taut he was liable to snap. A small trickle of sweat ran down his scalp as he stared into the calm, collected eyes of his adversary.
“Are you ready?” asked Hua Xue.
He took a deep breath. “I am. Let’s do this.”
“Try to keep up.”