Chapter VII: Troubles Over Air I

24 Degrees, Jing Dynasty morning.

Cuifen Chen Wu, 6th May 1894, Xing Deng Bao;

Yu Lee entered, locking the door shut from behind.

"What happened?" The words thrust without pause. My conscious was still weary, part of me thought that this was all an elaborate nightmare I was having. I dug my nails into my palm, the subtle pain condemning me that this was indeed reality. Anxiety crept in, did someone find out? No, they can't be linked. With the thought pushed out of my mind I energise myself; ridding the weariness entirely with my ring.

"Cuifen Chen Wu, I understand that this is a lot to process, but we'll need your help!" Still relentless with his formalities in a time like this? He unravelled from his pocket a pouch filled with the similar dust, much more than what we found earlier.

"We have to be on high alert, whoever is doing this is dangerous." I felt his sharp gaze through the thick lenses, his tone demanding.

"Alright... I understand. Let me change quickly." I secure the door shut, changing out of my sleeping attire and into my cheongsam in the bathroom, filled with various assortments of products that I had no clue what they were used for. I felt it, the rush of anxiety, the sprawling of thoughts that never truly disappear; only quelled until something caused them to surface again. Just pause your mind... I glanced at my ring, swirls of greens shades lighter than the ring follow around in a pattern. One day, I won't need you anymore. It glowed, and I felt the mana resonate in me. Travelling slowly out from my hand and all around me, the relief was instant. But for now, I need you more than ever. The emerald colour glowing never grows old. With myself prepared, I breathe out the last bit of anxiety in me.

"Right, fill me in with the details." He puts away the vial full of powder before beginning. The chamber echoed a darker hue with clouds clustering by the window.

He takes a seat by the desk;

"I awoke at seven, as usual. Preparing any necessary documents for us to look into. That was until I heard a scream coming from the central room. It sounded like one of the employees, Juhua if I recalled. She was our server from yesterday's meal. Anyways as I exited the study room in the corridor, I saw her running in my direction." He took a second of pause, an expression I was all too aware of.

"Continue."

"She had blood on her hands..." The look of pity etched on his face.

"Her face was deathly pale, she was in a state of shock. At that point, I calmed her down and told her to lock herself in the study until I come back. To make sure she was safe I looked back. The light on the door reflected red, so with that dealt with, I headed to the scene. When I arrived in the central room, even I was disturbed. His body lay there lifeless. Mild burns with repeated stab wounds. It looked like he didn't back down without a fight though."

My heart skipped a beat the moment banging struck the door,

"We need Chen Wu now! It's Mo Zhong!" The banging stopped with a familiar voice, it's Nikolai. I hesitated, although Yu Lee spared no expense and opened it up without pause. Juhua with her ring emanating, her along with Tao Ying and Nikolai helped Mo Zhong into the room and straight to my bed. He was unconscious, tainted bandages in red around his hip. He looked dire, likely about to settle into a fever.

"Just heal him to the best of your ability!" Tao Ying looked flustered catching his breath.

"Please do!" Juhua looked even more drained in comparison. Her yellow ring dulled the moment she released Mo to the bed, her skin couldn't get any paler either. I glimpsed a look of distrust from Yu Lee, masking it before the others took notice. I couldn't quite see what Yu Lee was suspicious of but that wasn't important. Right now, I gotta take care of Mo Zhong.

I hover my hands directly above the bandage. With my eyes closed I focused on concentrating. The heartbeat, the blood flowing through his veins. I sense it all, the circulation was disturbed, yet it continued flowing. Mana, coursing through him, his chi. I redirect the blood through the damaged veins, preventing any further from being lost, channelling some into clotting to patch up the damage. Now, the fever. I enhanced his immune system, funnelling my mana through to strengthen him. I slow my breathing, sensing myself becoming weary. That should last him enough until the wounds recover naturally. I open my eyes. Mo Zhong still looked unwell but at least some colour had surfaced back in him. Can't lose you just yet now, can I? You fool, we've got a lot of work still left to do.

"You... really did it." Nikolai, as well as Juhua looked at with awe, almost as if the night sky was set in their eyes... I suppose it's quite rare to have healing abilities. What lacks in sheer power comes with practicality, and I've learnt to harness what little power to its fullest potential.

"He's alright for now. Although, he'll need plenty of rest from now on. For now... we need to alert the authorities at Baifong about this!"

Each of them looked away. Their brief relief was swallowed up with reality.

"The comms are out of commission. Someone must've destroyed all the devices we had." Tao Ying replied in their place.

"Have you alerted the rest of the staff then at least? Whoever is behind this might go for them next!"

Juhua and Nikolai look at each in bewilderment.