Volume 3: The Association of Assassins

There was pain.

First in her shoulder, it was a piercing pain that made her want to vomit. Every jostle was agony.

Next was a more insidious pain. It coursed through her veins, throbbing as it went. Her body felt like it was on fire, while at the same time her limbs began to feel numb. It seemed like her very soul was being eaten away.

[Mei…]

'Jin?' Mei Hua thought groggily.

She did not want to wake up. Oblivion was better than the mess of agony that her body was feeling.

[…you are not alone…]

"Feed her the pill."

She felt something round pushed into her mouth.

"She's not swallowing it."

What was with all these noisy people? Can't they leave a sick person alone? She was so tired, she wanted to sleep…

"Uh… I think she's dying. She's not suppose to do that."

[…Stay awake Mei, don't sleep. Don't leave me, stay awake.]

"Give me the water, dammit!"

Something pried her jaw open and then a wet, cold feeling pressed on her lips. Water was forced into her mouth and down her throat. She wanted to cough but she had no strength for even that.

"I thought they were Immortals or high level Summoners or something like that?"

"The demon that went after us definitely was 'something like that', but I'm not sure about this one."

When the pill reached her stomach, she felt a cooling sensation spread out. The fiery pain was abated somewhat and feeling began to come back into her fingers and toes. This was a blessing and a curse because the pain was still there, and now all her body could feel it.

"Tsk. I don't like the unknown, makes me nervous. Didn't the Boss check the client's sources before accepting?"

"Of course he did!"

Mei Hua coughed and groaned.

"Hm… even if she's not Immortal or whatever, to survive a beating like that and the Thousand Year Hell Poison on top of it is pretty impressive."

"True…"

Someone tapped her on the side of the face.

"Hey girly, you awake?"

She tried opening her eyes but couldn't focus.

"Who are you people…?" She rasped out. Even her teeth hurt!

"Ah, so you're actually conscious! Amazing." A man was standing over her, he was wearing all black, a hood over his head and a black cloth covering his face from the nose down. She could just barely make out the form of eyes, hard and cold, staring down at her. "Really, what are you exactly? Are you not quite human anymore? Ah! I want to slice you open and see what makes you tick…"

"Now that she's awake, should we start?" The short one spoke.

The bigger man shook his head. "Give the pill a few more minutes. We weren't hired to kill her. Our pay will be halved if she dies."

"I really don't understand why they'd pay so much for us NOT to kill someone. Seems like a waste, you know?"

Her eyes suddenly came into focus and she could see clearly again. She was lying down on a raised flat surface made of rough wood. There were three other men dressed similarly to the one standing near her. The walls were made of packed dirt that let in no light and were lined with some very sharp and wicked looking metal objects.

Her body shivered violently with shock. These people obviously were up to no good, and for some reason she was their target.

Scared, she asked, "W-what do you want from me?"

"Want? We don't want anything." Said the one who'd originally woken her up.

The final black-dressed man, cheerfully explained, "That's right, we're just here to break you."

"B-break me?"

"Yep. Until you've lost your sanity, was the requirement."

"I don't understand."

"Not to worry, understanding isn't needed either."

She shut up, eyes filling with fear. They almost killed her once, she had no doubt that they were telling the truth.

'Jin,' She cried out in her mind as she struggled to move, terror overcoming even the pain from a broken shoulder. 'Where are you, Jin? These people are crazy!'

"Isn't she cute? She thinks she can escape!" The cheerful one chortled.

The short one walked over and lightly tapped her leg, causing her to clench her teeth.

"Even if she could crawl, she won't get far."

[Mei, don't be afraid. We're coming. We'll find you.]

Lips trembling, she suppressed the desire to weep. 'Jin, Jin! I'm scared!'

"If she can move then I think we can begin."

"Should we give her another pill?"

The big one tilted his head thoughtfully before shaking it.

"No, we'll only use it if she's close to dying again. Otherwise it'll be a waste of money. Those pills don't come cheap."

"Speaking of wasting…. let's not waste any more time!" The one who'd first spoken to her said excitedly. He walked over to the wall and picked out a very small knife. "What do you think? Good for slicing skin and tendons right?"

He approached her with his knife and looked her over. Mei Hua started to breath heavily, heart racing, terrified.

As the knife came closer to her arm, she thought, 'I won't scream, I won't give them satisfaction. I won't, I won't, I won——! No, no, no, no! Jin where are you? This hurts, it hurts, it hurts!'

———

Jin was currently standing at the very edge of his territory, pacing like a caged animal. Since the moment she'd woken up, Jin could hear everything Mei was thinking. When they started torturing her, his hands started to shake and his face went deadly pale.

She was in so much pain and he couldn't do anything. The helplessness made him feel like he was going crazy. If he couldn't tear the people apart who were doing this, than he wished he could at least take the pain for her.

He paused.

Maybe he could.

The thin connection between them was simply transmitting thoughts one way. When he spoke to Mei, he couldn't hear her thoughts, and when he could hear her thoughts, he couldn't talk to her. But after all, thoughts were a series of pulses from the brain. Pain was similar, so maybe he could just… cut the pain off before it registered in her mind. He doubted he could cut it all off but… he could, maybe, numb the pain a bit. At least take on a bit of the burden.

Very carefully, as the connection was delicate, he changed the flow. He knew he succeeded when his knees hit the ground and sweat started pouring off his face.

Jin wasn't use to physical pain and had a low tolerance despite his immense strength. His shoulder and ankles were on fire and his skin felt like it was covered in hundreds of cuts. His eyes watered with tears as his face blackened with rage. Death would be too good for the b*****ds who treated Mei this way. His palms began to burn piercingly, indicating Mei was suffering in some new way.

He began to breath heavily, the mixture of pain, rage, and impotency making it feel like he couldn't breath. It felt like the world was shrinking and closing in on him. As the minutes ticked by with no relief, it became harder and harder for him to differentiate Mei's pain with his own reality.

There was a rumble from the ground and the sky. Clouds began to whirl angrily above him and slight shivers pulsed through the earth. The part of him that was still sane realized he was losing control of himself, and thus endangering his youngest son and the home he'd so carefully built for his wife.

His sluggish mind struggled for a solution. Finally he pulled himself up and crossed his legs, hands on his knees, and started meditating. His hunched back slowly straightened as he gained control of his breathing and settled his mind. The clouds above him began to disperse and the land stilled again.

Even so, his face was taunt and sweat dripped from his forehead.

Where were his sons? Why hadn't they found his precious little wife yet? How much more of this did she have to go through?