Good or Bad (1)

"Hmm?"

Crack! Crack!

The sect leader watched calmly as cracks started to appear again on the dirt trap of Shin Minji's spell. Earlier, the cracks happened because over a hundred spirits filled with resentments were possessing Kou's body. Now that the same thing is happening, it showed that the thief's strength was equal to a hundred of those spirits.

Shin Minji pulled out her sword. It appeared that she didn't want to waste her energy on maintaining the spell, and opted for fighting instead.

At the same time, the solid trap split open.

Crack!!!

And a burst of water exploded from within the dirt.

Kou had used sea magic to destroy the trap and escaped from it.

He yelled, "A-Xin! We're leaving!"

Swoosh!

He made a gesture, and a wave of water glided through the air forming a stream. It was as if a river was lifted from the ground and floating through the trees of the forest.

The river of water flowed with a torrent, creating some kind of barrier between Kou and Shin Minji, then it spread through where Zhou Xin was standing, separating her from the elders and the two boys.

Shin Minji slashed through the river with her sword, but Kou had disappeared into the forest.

When the water appeared, Elder Xinyuan was unaware of what had happened, and his first instinct was to protect the kids. He reached out his hand to grab Zhou Xin, but the little girl had swung her arms forwards.

As if under her command, the flow of water scattered into a thin sheet, pushing Elder Xinyuan away gently, and Zhou Xin ran in the opposite direction.

One of the elders gasped, "That girl used sea magic!"

"Zhou Xin, wait!" Chen Liang exclaimed.

But Tan Ren held him back.

"Xiao-Liang, you can't just go after her! She's with that pirate!"

And as always, Chen Liang never listened to his senior brother and slipped through the gaps of the floating river. He managed to do it thanks to his short figure.

Shin Minji had already gone after them as well.

The elders were left in a trance at what they had witnessed.

"That pirate! Did he just make water appear out of nowhere?!"

"What about the girl? She's too young to use sea magic! And how is she with the pirate?"

With just a short showcase of the sea magic they used, Kou and Zhou Xin displayed the great potential they had as mages.

The two thieves dashed through the forest. Zhou Xin had caught up to Kou at some point and was running ahead of him.

They passed through the areas that Kou had explored, leaving behind the tinkling bells hung around the trees. The forest no longer had any dark energy in it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Only the sounds of their shoes stepping on dried leaves can be heard as they run.

"Keep running, A-Xin."

Kou's voice had a hint of worry in it.

"Wait for me outside of the forest. If I don't come out in less than an hour, head to Chunfeng and wait for me there."

Crunch, crunch, crunch-

Then he abruptly stopped running and turned around.

Confused, Zhou Xin was about to stop running too, when she heard the sound of swords clashing.

Clang!!!

It was Shin Minji.

The Midnight Mage had caught up to them so quickly.

Zhou Xin made up her mind to trust Kou and kept on running without turning back.

Clang!

Clang!

And in the middle of that peaceful forest, Kou was parrying Shin Minji's attacks, one after the other.

He somehow felt as if he needed to start a conversation, but didn't know what to say. In the end, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"You put a 77,600 bounty on my head?!"

Clang!

Shin Minji laughed, which made Kou grinned. It almost sounded like a joke.

But she replied somewhat mockingly, "Don't you think it's appropriate? For everything you've done to me?"

Clang!

Her strikes felt heavy, like she was putting a lot of rage into it.

Shin Minji had a smile on her face, and Kou couldn't decide if it looked sincere or sarcastic.

"Or is that not enough for you? Should I set it higher?" she asked with an innocent tone.

It really sounded like a joke.

To Kou, it almost sounded like a mean joke someone would make to a close friend after not seeing them for a long while.

However, the movements of her attacks...

Clang!

How aggressive it felt, the amount of rage in it, and the accuracy of every strike.

It's almost as if…

She's actually trying to kill me!

Kou thought about the bounty.

77,600 was high enough to make any rogue mages or bounty hunters go after him. The amount was enticing. But no mages on their own would be able to defeat Kou, it would take a group of powerful mages to take him down.

In fact, the amount of that bounty was enough for mages to form a group to hunt Kou and if they successfully send him to the Shin Clan, they would be able to split the reward.

Although the bounty might attract troublesome rogue mages to gather, it was not enough to tempt groups from prominent clans. In any case, it would actually discourage them to deal with Kou as they would rather kill him on the spot than capture him alive for another clan.

If anything, raising the bounty could be seen as a joke to annoy the Lone Pirate by having rogue mages go after him, without any actual threat behind it.

But if she was serious and had raised the bounty with the intention of capturing him, then…

Does she really want to kill me?

Kou thought that there was something important to tell her, so he called out in a serious tone.

"Shin Minji."

The grin on his face had also disappeared.

And as if a commander had ordered a retreat, Shin Minji stopped attacking.

Kou felt odd about this behavior. It was as if she was really going to listen to what he had to say, and possibly spare his life.

Shin Minji had lowered her sword, but Kou still held up his sword in front of his face.

His gaze fell to his arm.

There was a finer fabric wrapped around the wound that seemed to have been treated properly. Even the bleeding had stopped, despite the large cut he made to spill out enough blood for the spirit gate array.

Kou felt conflicted, but he spoke anyway.

"...You can't kill me."

He lowered his sword as he said it, trying to observe Shin Minji's expression.

I've known her for a very long time, yet I still can't read what's on her mind.

Shin Minji replied, "Apparently not."

Like she was accepting an obvious fact, she sheathed her sword back in the scabbard.

Huh? That's it?

Perhaps, Shin Minji misunderstood what Kou had meant with that sentence.

"I guess not even I could kill you," She said.

Wait-

"No, that's not what I-"

"How could I?"

Shin Minji laughed defeatedly.

It sounded like desperation at first, then the laughter sounded more and more like anger.

In the tense silence that followed, Shin Minji stepped forward.

"I could never kill you, the greatest mage of all time…"

She spoke each word with weight, unveiling a long-buried secret.

"...the sea witch, Wulan."

For a second, he paused.

Kou… No, Wulan slightly frowned. A familiar wave of emotion washed over her. The same kind that she felt back in the spirit realm, when she was living through Jiajia's memories. It was similar. How heavy it felt.

All of a sudden, both of them sensed someone approaching from a distance.

Wulan snapped out of her thoughts.

"I have to go."

"Wait, Wulan…"

Shin Minji grabbed her wrist.

Wulan spoke softly, "You know where to find me."

Shin Minji hesitated, but she let go of her hand.

"I'll be there," Wulan stated. "Promise."

With that, she turned and left, disappearing into the forest once again.

It didn't take long until Wulan finally made it out of the forest. She spotted Zhou Xin sitting against a tree while hugging her knees. A blank expression on her face.

What an obedient child, Wulan thought.

She called out to her, "A-Xin."

Zhou Xin looked her way before standing up and walking towards her.

"Let's go," Wulan said.

They started to walk in the open field.

Zhou Xin observed the grinning thief from top to bottom.

Despite having her blood drained to draw the array, Wulan walked with a lively step, full of vitality. She might have been a little paler after she was possessed, but the colors of her skin quickly recovered after. The wounds on her arms have stopped bleeding. It could be because of Shin Minji's patch up work, or maybe Wulan just had an extremely fast healing capacity.

Then, Zhou Xin examined her face.

Wulan had a naturally friendly face that looked as if she was constantly smiling. Even her eyes alone seemed bright. Zhou Xin didn't understand, but for some reason, the face of the sea witch from the painting popped up in her mind.

Ah, that's why it looked familiar.

It wasn't as if Zhou Xin didn't know that Wulan was a woman. That night in the Jade House when Zhou Xin accidently walked in on her half-naked was quite unforgettable.

She didn't ask why Wulan disguised herself as a man. She didn't need to know.

Zhou Xin also stared at the hilt of Wulan's sword.

There were symbols carved on it. And Zhou Xin found another answer as to why she felt that the written language of the Central Plains looked familiar.

There were many things Zhou Xin still didn't know about her companion. But she decided to let Wulan tell her whenever she wanted to. That thief talked so much that it would slip up on its own eventually.

Both of them had only walked for a short while, when they felt as if someone was watching.

Whoever Wulan had sensed back in the forest with Shin Minji, must have run past the Midnight Mage and chased after the Lone Pirate instead. However, once they reached the end of the forest, they lost courage to follow her as they couldn't hide anymore.

Now, the stalker was just watching them from behind a tree.

"Hmm? I think it's just a kid. A-Xin, did you make friends at school today? Hahahaha!"

As Wulan laughed at her own joke, Zhou Xin rolled her eyes.

And right then, the figure behind the tree stepped out from the shade, coming into view.

Zhou Xin didn't expect this person to have followed them.

"Chen Liang?" she asked.

It happened twice already. Chen Liang somehow managed to sneakily follow strong mages without falling behind, yet at the same time, got caught because he wasn't good at hiding his presence.

Mages like Shin Minji, the sect leader, and Wulan could sense Chen Liang following them, but they ignored him because they could sense that he wasn't much of a threat.

The young boy approached them and stopped at a comfortable distance, which happened to be quite far.

Chen Liang started, "Zhou Xin! W-why are you with that pirate?"

He seemed to be a little scared of Wulan, but was able to pull himself together enough to get to this point.

"Is it because you wanted to learn magic? That's why you came to the academy, right? Then… then learn magic in the academy! I'll talk to my master so you can start right away! So, don't go with that pirate!"

To be honest, Zhou Xin was a little touched. But seeing as there was a misunderstanding, the situation seemed funny to her.

Chen Liang didn't understand why Zhou Xin was with a pirate. He didn't know much about rogue mages and pirates, but he knew that they were dangerous.

He didn't understand how Zhou Xin even met this pirate. He didn't understand how she could use magic when she was so young. He didn't know why a little girl like her could do sea magic.

He tried to convince her.

"Don't use sea magic! You can learn any kind of magic in the academy! Just don't do sea magic!"

Wulan replied, "Kid, what's wrong with sea magic?"

The young boy stood still, his mouth hung open.

Wulan gave him a smile and continued.

"Because it's evil? Well, it's not. Because it's dangerous? That's also wrong. There is no difference between land magic, sky magic, and sea magic. All of them are just acts of borrowing power from spirits, nothing more."

She stared right through his eyes.

"Or… are you afraid that other people might see A-Xin here as evil? That they might harm her? Don't worry about that, I will protect her."

Chen Liang was speechless.

Wulan sighed, "Go back, kid. It's alright."

But he still stood there, not coming any closer, but not faltering back either. 

Wulan waited for a short moment, before turning her back and starting to walk again. Zhou Xin did the same thing. And after just a few seconds, a third set of footsteps can be heard following, which made Wulan groan dramatically.

Seeing as he won't give up, Zhou Xin tried to speak to him.

"Chen Liang, I didn't want to go to the academy. I lied. I'm going with him," Zhou Xin pointed at Wulan, "just as I did before. So, you can stop following us."

"Why?" Chen Liang asked.

Zhou Xin didn't know how to answer that question.

The boy moved forward, "Then… I'll go with you."

Zhou Xin was perplexed, "What?'

Wulan interjected, "Alright kid, that's enough."

She was about to cast a spell to slightly hinder the boy, but unexpectedly, Chen Liang pulled out a paper talisman that he threw towards Wulan.

Of course, the paper talisman was burned before it even got close. But apparently, a pebble was hidden behind that small piece of paper, flying towards Wulan.

Wulan did a simple flick, and the pebble shattered into dust before it got into her face.

She grinned, "You've got guts."

When she looked back at the boy, Chen Liang had prepared a couple paper talismans, floating around him, ready to be activated at any time. He was already in a fighting stance with a serious face.

"Brat! What's this? Are you challenging me to a duel?"

Despite the bold action, Wulan noticed his hands shaking. This boy definitely knew his place, and that he was no match for the pirate in front of him.

Wulan asked, "If you win, do you want A-Xin to stay in the academy?"

"No," Chen Liang answered nervously.

He then looked at Zhou Xin.

"Zhou Xin doesn't want to stay here… And I'm not strong enough to win against you."

"Smart! Then, what's the point in doing all this?"

"...If I can prove that I'm good enough, you'll let me go with you."

Wulan burst out laughing, "Hahahaha! Is that so? Hahahahaha!"

On the side, Zhou Xin had been making disagreeable expressions throughout the conversation.

Why would he go so far? What for?

And as she was thinking, Zhou Xin noticed the dirt beneath her feet had become damp. Not long after, water started to appear and pool around her feet.

She glanced warily at Wulan, then at Chen Liang.

Water had appeared from where Wulan was standing and flowed backward, resembling a receding wave at the shore.

Chen Liang didn't seem to notice this.

Meanwhile, Wulan was just having fun.

"What makes you think I'm so kind? Hahahaha!"

Shhhhh…

The water flowed and gathered somewhere. A large shadow loomed over them, and Zhou Xin saw that Chen Liang looked terrified. When she turned around, there was a giant wave of water flowing upwards like a wall.

Wulan declared, "You know I could kill you, right?"

Chen Liang, the boy who was not much taller than Zhou Xin, stood frozen. At the sight of the wall of water, he gaped. He was only surrounded by five floating paper talismans that wouldn't be able to protect him.

The water wall moved past Wulan and Zhou Xin without touching them, and Zhou Xin was horrified.

"Kou!" she yelled out to Wulan.

But the wave crashed into the ground, drowning the poor boy who stood no chance.