What now?

Mai's shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight that was peaking over the horizon. The forest the had been so silent the night before was full of life; birds chirped as the fly overhead and small creatures scurried along the trees searching for nuts. The tranquility of the moment calmed Mai's frayed nerves.

"How did I get stuck in this mess?" Mai thought to herself "How are my parents doing? Do they miss me? Do my friends?"

Mai closed her eyes and sighed deeply glancing over to Han Bing. Brushing a piece of hair that had fallen over his eyes.

"You are worth it Han Bing … You … But is this world worth it? This nuts emperor? I hope we can live in a small cottage somewhere and have a bunch of little ones running around us as you bring home an animal and look clueless about how to cook it. Hopefully one of our children will be able to cook."

While Mai was daydreaming about her preferred future, she heard Han Bing call out beside her "Good morning Mai"

"Mm good morning" Mai said sleepily before rubbering her eyes to get the last remints of sleep out.

Han Bing captured her wrist in his hand and laid a light kiss upon her skin.

"How did you sleep?" Mai asked, she realized that sometime in the night she had stolen all the blankets and had kicked him to the dirt.

Han Bing glanced down at his dirty clothes and chucked a little "It seems my loving wife did not wish to share with me. How did you sleep Mai? I know that you are not used to sleeping on such surfaces."

Mai felt like she was getting called out by Han Bings comment when she attempting to rub a sore spot on her back. "I am okay! Mostly" she mumbled to herself

"Let me help with that" Han Bing replied sneaking a peak at Mai's soft skin underneath her robe.

Mai felted Han Bings hands start to rub her shoulders in soft small motions. "Should I go harder?" Han Bing asked Mai.

"Mmmm" Mai let out a small moan as her body loosened "yes, please."

Han Bings hand applied more pressure as he worked out the knots on Mai's shoulders. Before long Mai had lost half of the tension in her body as she was whimpering in relief.

Mai eyes were closed as Han Bing moved the hair away from her neck. tracing his finger loosely up and down before moving in for a small nibble on the tinder part of her neck.

"Han Bing!" Mai exclaimed "let … lets go to the cabin right now! … Where is it exactly?"

Han Bing laughed before agreeing with Mai " Zheng Li said that there was a small hunting cabin a day walk from here following the sun as its sets. He also said that it should be completely abandoned as its on forbidden land. Folk tales of a giant demoness keeps most away."

"A demoness??" Mai said in a chilling tone "Could anything actually be worse than the emperor?

Picking up a branch on the ground "it sure is beautiful here though." Han Bing said trying to change the topic.

Mai looked around and had to agree with his assessment. The trees were tall and moved gracefully in the wind. The lush green of the forest that had yet to be touched by the harmful effects of humans was all around. Mai drew in a breath and caught the scents of multiple flowers that the wind had scattered the petals from.

Mai looked at Han Bing and was about to comment on the beauty of their location before she saw what he was looking at. Turning her gaze downwards Mai realized that in her sleep her robe must have undone and with Han Bing rubbing her shoulders it was covering nothing important.

"Han Bing!!!!" Mai almost shouted in embarrassment "you did this on purpose didn't you."

Han Bing laughed and hugged Mai's body into his before properly doing up her robe.

"I just wanted to see the face you would make, my Mai flower." Han Bing said after he stopped grinning to himself.

Mai couldn't help but hit the man that was driving her crazy on the shoulder. "I am going to get you back" Mai said while slightly playfully pouting.

"I look forward to it" Han Bing replied with a giant smile "whatever will my lovely Mai flower do?"

"Hmph! You will regret saying that" Mai whispered as her eyes narrowed in a calculating light.

"Let's go, your too distracting for your own good" Mai said with some seriousness "don't you know that we are running away from a crazy person?"

"Fine, fine" Han Bing let out, sighing deeply "you are right once again."

Mai rolled her eyes at Han Bing but noticed that the sides of her lips lifted into a half smile.

"Which way?" Mai asked while going back towards the hunting trail that they were walking on earlier.

"West" Han Bing said while pointing in the direction that Mai had been walking in.

Han Bing placed the blanket back into their packs as he caught up with Mai walking down the trail.

——

"Have you found them yet?" The Emperor shouted out at the men dressed in black from head to toe in front of him. None of them flinched from his anger or aggression, standing stalk still.

"No, your majesty, we are still tracking which way they left the city. It was a while ago and the records have disappeared from the time period. Give us more time and we will find them" the man in the front of the group said while slightly bowing his head down.

"You are an elite group of spies how have you not discovered there location out! Someone must be helping them." The Emperor stated thinking deeply about the topic.

None of the men took up the provocation of their skills they had seen what the Emperor had been doing to those that displeased him as of late.

"Did that Zheng Li boy go with them too?" The Emperor asked cutting the silence in the room.

"Yes, your majesty" the leader of the group once again said shifting his graze sideways to one of the other spies.

"His father is probably helping them. Go and fetch him for me, will you? You can at least handle this task correct?" The Emperor said voice turning dark and dangerous.

"Right away your majesty" the leader replied while flicking out his wrist. They all flowed out of the room in silence as they went to follow the task set for them.

Once they were outside the palace walls one of the men looked at the commander and asked, "are we not going to tell him?"

"That man is no emperor, but we will have to produce some sort of results or it will be our heads on the chopping block" the leader replied. "Just continue what your current investigations and see if there was another group that had a similar amount of people leaving the city at the same time… It's time for a new Emperor."

The man nodded his head before saluting and moving back to his spot in the formation.