Chapter 19: Pickle cake

"Wang Fan! Hold on a moment, we're almost there!"

Feng Mai was running through the debris-filled, desolate paths where collapsed buildings could be seen in every direction, carrying Wang Fan on her back.

This boy was still breathing, albeit weakly. His eyes were half closed and unfocused. However, they seemed to be watching something as they moved in clear patterns.

Hurried footsteps were the only sounds around them, along with an occasional explosion that hinted to a close battle.

Yet no one could be seen, as if it was all an illusion; as if they were the only people running through the remains of a fallen world.

"Big Brother Fan, look!"

Wang Fan heard a familiar voice. It was like an angelical musical piece, but he couldn't quite remember the person it belonged to, as if it had been a long time since he last heard it.

"Big Brother, don't ignore me!"

The nostalgic voice rang in his ears again; it was clearer this time. The dark scenery his eyes perceived changed for short, almost imperceptible instants, as if it was a blinking screen, showing a place that had sunk into the deepest parts of his memory.

"Heyy!"

A small and delicate hand shook his shoulder, causing him to come back to his senses. He turned around and saw a thin, short and slightly tanned little girl looking at him with angry eyes.

"What is it Ya'er?"

He asked, looking at the little girl's light-brown eyes.

"You've been dozing off recently, Big Brother. Are you okay?"

The expression on the girl's face changed to one of concern as she spoke. She wore a plain, old and rough brown blouse that had small holes on its surface, along with a similar looking skirt that reached her knees.

"I'm okay. It's just that I've been wondering about some things…"

"Like why you haven't been able to catch a single fish for some time?"

When Wang Fan heard those words, he could only flinch. He had been keeping it from his sister, trying to not worry her, but she already knew…

Seeing her brother's reaction, the girl smiled softly.

"You don't have to worry, Big Brother. We'll find a way like we always do! So what if those fishes don't show themselves anymore, we only have to sell something else!"

Releasing a small sigh, Wang Fan shook his head. He could only do as she said, it would make no sense to keep trying something that he knew wouldn't work.

"Ah right! I made something to eat. Today's a special occasion after all."

"Y-Yeah? Of course it is, how could I forget-"

"Happy birthday, dear brother!"

Saying that, she took the very small but delicate-looking cake she had been hiding behind her back. It was light green and smooth, as if it was carved and not baked.

"It's a pickle cake, Big Brother! I hope you like it!"

"You do like pickles, huh. Thank you for the present, Ya'er."

"I know you're always complaining that all we eat are pickles, but you must understand they are really wonderful!

You can use them for a great variety of things, they are very malleable. They also grow in this area so we can pick them up for free! They are the reason we don't have to worry much about food. Pickles have a great texture and…"

Wang Fan took the pickle cake from the little girl's hands as she kept talking. Weak rays of sun that passed through the cracks of the bamboo wall shone on the siblings' faces as one of them spoke.

"Don't worry Sister, I'm grateful."

…

Inside a pile of dust and rubbish where a long and thin building was previously standing, a fat boy had just woken up.

A reddish-gray layer of ash mixed with blood covered his face as he opened his eyes, coughing a couple of times before moving away one of the biggest rocks that squashed him with his hand.

"How the tarnation am I still alive?" He whispered, noticing his body's condition. His state was so bad that he didn't even feel pain. Most of his limbs were numb and weak; the only thing he felt apart from that was an occasional ticklish sensation of a liquid flowing through some part of his body.

Despite all this, he was calm. He knew of the power of the flash grapes and the consequences one's eyes would suffer by directly looking at the light; he had been a victim himself after all.

"Gee golly, Brother Yi. Should I blame or thank you?" He weakly said as pain began to invade his body, relieving him a little; at least he knew he wasn't missing anything.

"Senior Brother Fang, are you alive?" A familiar voice invaded the fat boy's ears, however, he didn't feel any better.

"It 's me! Ling Zhou!" The voice came again, passing through the holes of the pile of rubble that buried Fang Chang, which were big enough for him to breathe.

"I saw a powerful blinding light as I ran through all this mess, I knew it was going to be one of you guys!

I was going to say hi, but then I saw a big thing flying through the air and crashing into one of the biggest buildings, turning it into flummery! I instantly knew it was you; who else's body was heavy and big enough to destroy something like that?"

I sped towards this place, but then I realized I wasn't wearing anything, you see, so I took a cloak from a dead body I encountered. Don't be scared."

"Sure, Junior Brother Ling. Could you lend me a hand?"

"No problem!"

Ling Zhou started to dig into the gray pile of ruins, throwing pieces to the side and behind him. It would take a while, however, as the pieces Ling Zhou could move were not reducing the debris that trapped Fang Chang much.

He didn't mind digging for a while, his expression remained the same: it was one of curiosity and a bit of excitement. It wasn't easy to deduce his thoughts.

"Hey, Junior Brother Ling, be careful. The people that put me in here might be roaming near. The one who hit me was probably Second Realm peak, so it might be dangerous for you."

"There's nothing to worry about, Brother Fang! I'm Ling Zhou, who can harm me!? You'll just have to wait a bit for me to rescue you. I still have a couple of pills that I made myself that could be quite helpful!"

"I'm okay, you can keep the pills…"

"Don't be shy, Senior Brother Fang, my pills are extremely aghhh-"

Ling Zhou was about to glorify his pill-making skills, but he was suddenly dragged along by an unknown force, pulling him away from the pile of rubbish.

After a few seconds and before he could even resist, Ling Zhou was already far away from where he had been a moment ago. He felt like he was being carried by someone against his will; his body kind of floated in the air, going up and down like he was mounting a horse with his chest pointing downwards.

"Aghhh! What 's this!? What is happening!?" He screamed, moving his arms from one side to the other.

"It's your fault! All my suffering for the past couple of days is because of you! You sent me to the Medical Grass and shoved some unknown pill down my throat. Because of you, I got to meet that piece of flummery Stick-boy!"

The invisible force that held Ling Zhou spoke, revealing his feelings.

"W-What!? What did I do to you? Who are you!?"

"I'm the person who will take revenge on you! Now in this place, no one will intervene…"

"Huh, revenge? So you do know what I came to do… Very well, this Ling Zhou will take away your life!"

"As if!"

Boom!

Tai Tu stopped running with a loud step as he threw Ling Zhou to the floor with both of his hands. He was invisible because of the pill Ming Daiyu gave him without thinking, and, when he realized, he took off his clothes and escaped the Medical Grass after he was sure people weren't looking in his direction.

Just when Ling Zhou's head was about to be smashed into the floor, one of his arms extended towards it, stopping a large portion of the impact his head was going to receive.

He quickly took advantage of the moment that Tai Tu's grip had been weakened to free himself, twisting his body and landing safely on the ground.

He distanced himself from the previous position as he looked around.

"Where are you, coward! Show yourself!" Ling Zhou shouted, taking a fighting stance. His clothes were orange and black; it seemed someone had killed one of the invading disciples, allowing him to steal something to wear.

The scenery was the same as almost everywhere else; dark, misty and filled with an ugly, brown ground consequence of the destruction that had torn any trace of the lively grass that used to adorn the floor.

"I am everywhere!"

Bam

A fist hit Ling Zhou's face, throwing him a few meters away. After he landed, he cleaned the trail of blood that was flowing out of his nose…

"Beware, my secret and special technique!"

…And ran away.