Li coughed blood, feeling the strange lightning coursing through his limbs. He licked his lips, wiping the blood coating them. A throb of pain went through his chest, and he tore his burnt clothes. A black burnt patch let out smoke, blood, skin and flesh melting into a smoldering patch.
Channeling his Qi, Li stumbled ahead. Towards where his brother stood over the girl’s unconscious form.
“Brother, stay back. You’re injured,” Lei said, lightning crackling between his fists as he watched the girl squirming in pain on the ground. Lei gathered golden bolts within his fists, raising them high above.
“No. Let me,” Li barked, limping closer.
Blood dripped down his chest, coating his chest. A pang of pain spread through his chest upon each step. Some of his ribs had broken from the strike, and he felt out of breath.
“It’s… refreshing,” Li panted, walking to the girl’s body. As she remained clutching her gut. Tears flowing freely from her eyes. “I haven’t felt this much pain since grandfather’s training.”
“Are you sure brother? You look… distressed,” Lei said.
A grin rose upon Li’s face. “Distressed? Brother, we have met a child more talented than us. How can I be distressed?”
He stood next to Labby, watching the girl gasping as agony began to render her immobile. Qi flowed outside her body now, as her dantian failed to keep it all contained in. Li bent down on his knees.
Reached out, he grabbed her chin, lifting her face up. “A pretty face. Unnaturally so. As if crafted to be human. And that symbol of the moon. You’re a spirit aren’t you?” Li asked.
Labby pulled her eyes open, tears flowing out from them. Li pushed down upon his impulse to twist her neck, containing his anger. He would teach her a lesson. But first, he needed to know.
“Who are you? And how did you learn such strange arts?” Li asked.
The girl grunted, clenching her teeth. But he knew she could speak. The pain would not be enough to render her incapable of talking just yet.
“A spirit. So your master must be inside,” Li said, leaning in closer. “Do you know what he’ll look like, if I cripple you completely in front of his eyes?”
The girl shifted, yet she did not talk. Li continued undeterred. “Oh the despair. Or perhaps he wouldn’t care. Spirits are a dime a dozen afterall. He will merely get a different one.”
A pulse of purple lighting crackled around the girl, and for a moment, Li feared she had gained her strength back. Yet the bolt fizzled out before it could even reach her, as the girl let out a painful sob.
“It is pointless. The more Qi you use, the faster your dantian will collapse,” Li growled. He lifted the girl’s face, as she opened her eyes. Anger swirled inside them, mixing with purple lightning.
Li sent a bolt of lightning through her arm, as she cried out in pain, collapsing once more. “Do not look at me like that. You are not worthy,” he spat, clutching her hair.
“If you want to live. Tell your master to give every treasure he has to us. Do that, and I will spare your measly life,” Li said.
Tears flushed down the girl’s eyes as she glared. Something grasped upon his feet, and he saw the girl’s arm grabbing his ankle.
Another arm moved towards Li’s chest, towards where he had been struck, as a bolt of lightning pulsed in. The girl screamed, her dantian shattering in pieces as the bolt of lightning coursed through Li, pushing him back.
Agony tore through Li’s limbs as his body lost control for a moment. “Stop!” he screamed at his brother nearby. With a force of will, he clawed upon the earth, pulling himself up.
“We will keep her alive till her master arrives,” Li spat, limping closer. Lei walked closer, grabbing his brother’s shoulder, but he knew not to do more.
“Brother, do you plan to… spare them?” Lei asked.
“No,” Li said, walking towards the girl. Slowly bending down, he heard the girl sobbing, and he grasped her hair. “All of this? This only ensures that I will do everything I can to make both you and your master suffer as much as I can,” Li growled, letting her fall.
He watched her writhe in silent sobs, before soon they settled down, as the girl lost consciousness.
Scourging through his pouch, Li bit down a pill. Qi flowed through his body, healing his burnt pathways and skin. It would be far from enough, but for now it would have to do.
“We need to prepare, Brother. For when someone comes out—”
A tremor broke off Lei. Li turned behind, and watched the gates shudder open. A blinding light poked out, as a tall figure stepped out.
Li raised his fists, gathering his Qi. Lightning crackled between his fists, as he prepared his arts ready to strike out.
“What… did you do?” a voice echoed in the silence.
Li stared at the boy, staring blankly upon them. Turning towards his brother he nodded, ready to jump upon the boy. Yet something inside his gut held him back. A shiver went down Li’s spine, as the boy walked forward, and his gut sank.
To train in the Yan family, the two brothers had honed their instincts. Throughout their life, Li had trusted his instincts to assess the threat of any fight, and his own strength. It was an instinct that had allowed him victory many many times in his life.
And right now, his gut was screaming at him to run.
***
There was a state beyond anger. A state that I had not entered many times in my life. It was a calm place, a silent place. Like you were staring in the deep void of your soul, ready to inflict it upon the world.
I was in that place. No, I was beyond that place.
My eyes remained rooted to the prone form upon the ground. A voice had crawled upon me. A cry from Labby, mixed with the most heart rending fear and pain I had ever sensed from her.
My lips trembled as I watched her. She was not the tiny little rat I knew. Instead, a small child of about eight, with gray hair covering her face. Yet, I felt no Qi from Labby. Our bond led into an empty void. A void I was intimately familiar with.
I stumbled forward, my mind unable to think of any other thought. I felt Qi gathering nearby, lightning lashing out towards my back. I let it, soaking in the strike. I felt no pain. I felt no agony.
All I felt was the creeping edges of despair.
I stumbled towards Labby, falling to my knee. The strikes of lightning lashing out on my body were a faded thought as I wrapped my hands around her small form.
A storm of Chi swirled around me, shielding her from any stray strikes, as I cupped her body, pushing her gray hair aside. The crescent moon was marked upon her head, followed by a full moon right above. Yet unlike before, it held no light, held no Qi within it.
With a groan, Labby stirred, opening her eyes. It took a moment for her eyes to focus on my face, and my heart shattered.
“Master…” Labby whispered. “Labby is… so sorry…”
I felt my throat clam up.
“She failed master… she failed to make you proud.”
“Shh,” I spoke, pressing my finger against her lips. “You are beautiful Labby. The most beautiful spirit, and the most loyal junior sister I have ever had.”
Fighting against my choking voice I spoke. “I am proud of you Labby.”
I watched a light smile reach upon her face, as she closed her eyes once more.
Gently, I reached my hands upon her dantian and extended my senses. The tree within my soul expanded, a root reaching within Labby from our bond. I let the root reach within her dantian, as a spirit anchor manifested within.
Chi flowed from my hand, towards the cracked pieces of her dantian. Like strings I pulled them along, bringing them back together. The tree spread its roots, binding to the broken ring, as I tied the pieces together.
Digging in my pouch I grabbed a Qi gathering pill, that I soak in my vitality before dropping into Labby's mouth. She pursed her lips, stirring. I sensed my vitality flowing through her body, and healing her wounds, as her dantian began to fix itself.
I gently put Labby back on the ground.
“Senior sister… okay?” Twilight asked, as she jumped down next to Labby.
“She will be okay,” I whispered. “Stay with her.”
I stood up and turned to face the Twins. The two boys stood with their arms extended, Qi swirling in their cores and lightning crackling between their fists.
Something snapped inside of me.
"I was fine when your spar had nearly crippled me," I stepped forward, as Chi boiled in my core, hissing and frothing.
"I was fine with the arrogance you had displayed.” Flames burst from my hand, dark violet and bright red, licking my skin with a promise of agony.
“I was fine with the suffering you had inflicted upon others with no thought,” the wind swirled around me in a frenzy. Howling with fury.
“I was fine with forgiving you after all of that,” I reached upon the First Law carved within my soul. A golden ring flashed in my eyes.
"But... hurting Labby?" I kicked off, my feet leaving the ground as my fist slammed into the left twin's gut.
The cavern shuddered around me, crumbling from the shockwave as the boy was slammed into the wall. A crack echoed through the cavern, as his dantian shattered into pieces.
"How dare you?"