An Unexpected Attack

Suzhen watched as the little black bird came closer. She smiled to herself. It had been several months since she last changed back into her snake form, and her snake aura had been weakening. She knew this because the animals in the village had started to be less wary towards her.

Cautiously, she scattered some crumbs from the pancakes and watched the bird gingerly come towards her to peck at them, glancing at her occasionally.

She looked up to see what Xuxian was doing and saw him crouched over something in the grass, fumbling with some pieces of bamboo.

"What are you doing, Xuxian?" she asked. The bird took flight, startled by her voice.

Xuxian raised his head to flash a smile at her. "Setting some rabbit traps."

She frowned. "So many?"

"There won't be many once winter comes," he said breathlessly. "I thought, we should catch as many as we can before then. Don't mind me. I only have a few left."

Suzhen gazed at the lake glimmering in the sun. She thought of the many afternoons she and Qingqing had spent playing in the lake, seeing who could dive deeper and stay underwater the longest, and splashing each other with powerful blows of their tails. Of course, Qingqing could never win, being smaller than her; but what she lacked in strength she made up in slyness.

She smiled absently to herself, remembering the carefree fun of those times. She seldom saw Qingqing nowadays. Sometimes she would turn up at their hut for a meal, unabashedly arriving at dinner time just as they were sitting down at the table. But more often she would go over to Yuanzheng's to get fussed over by Granny Hong, to exchange mischief with Xiaohu, and of course, to tease Yuanzheng.

Suzhen had not expected to miss Qingqing; she was a mischievous spirit, selfish, greedy, and petty. But she had her own sort of loyalty, and it was impossible to be bored when she was around.

Xuxian straightened. "I'm done!" he called out. "Let's go swimming now."

He dusted off his hands, then suddenly turned to her with a glint in his eye. "I'll beat you to the lake!" he called, and broke into a run.

Suzhen sprang up, scattering the rest of the pancake crumbs, and darted after him. He could never have beaten her if she had used her cultivation, but she was starting to rely on it less and less now. She hoisted up her robe and ran after him as fast as she could. "Why, you little cheat, getting a headstart on your own wife!" she cried breathlessly.

Xuxian raced through the grass and paused only to kick off his sandals, then dived off the bank. Since their first swimming lesson he had improved rapidly, and Suzhen barely had to use a current to stealthily support him from below now. Though of course he was still nowhere near her swimming prowess, he was comfortable in the water now.

As she approached the bank his head emerged from the water, dripping, and he shouted, "I win this time for once, Susu!" before ducking under the water again.

Suzhen shook her head helplessly as she balanced on one foot to get off her sandals first. She and Xuxian had since realized that wet sandals usually ended up rotting, and that a swim in the lake with your straw sandals on often meant the end of a perfectly good pair of shoes. No one had told them that you were supposed to take off your clothes as well when you went swimming.

As she tossed the second sandal away and stood barefooted in the grass, enjoying the feeling of the sand under her toes, she suddenly tensed. Someone was here.

Looking about swiftly, she listened intently, trying to sense telltale vibrations from the ground beneath her feet. She recognized the footsteps--it was the mysterious person who had been following her. Song Gongzi? If not him, who else?

Whirling around, she brought her arm up swiftly as she felt a gust of wind hit her, and just managed to counter a heavy blow which sent her staggering backwards.

With a gasp, Suzhen fell back and saw a man she had never seen before advancing on her with a heavy branch. He was short with hunched shoulders and wide round eyes, and there was an ugly expression in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Who are you?" she panted warily, feeling a stab of pain from what would most certainly be a bruise on her arm. "Are you one of the bandits?"

Breathing heavily, she glanced around, wondering how many more might be hidden around her. It would be hard to get out of this scrape without using her powers, yet she could not reveal herself so carelessly in front of so many people, and with Xuxian just near by.

He said nothing, only lunged forward. The branch swung down in another blow and she sprang back rapidly, feeling it graze a lock of hair.

Suzhen's eyes narrowed and she turned on him. The brief moment of coming close to him had revealed a strong spirit aura clinging to him. So this was no ordinary man, but another spirit like herself--one which, judging from its low levels of spirit energy, had only recently attained human form.

Her hands flashed and she sent him flying backwards with a jet of energy. He crashed into a tree and fell onto the ground. The thick bough that had been in his hands snapped with the force of the fall.

Bai Suzhen came towards him and stood looking down at him with hard eyes. "Get out of here, before I kill you," she said, breathing heavily. Your spirit energy aura is weak and you could never defeat me. Whatever reason you have for coming after me, I would advise you not to make trouble."

He snarled as he looked up at her. "It's all your fault that I had to wait so long to get my human form, while you got yours long ago. You stuck-up snake spirit. Think you're so superior." Snatching up one half of the broken branch, he made another lunge at her, hefting it in his hand like a short club.

Suzhen blasted the tree branch into splinters before it even touched her, and caught him by his neck. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said through her teeth, lifting him off the ground. "I have never met you before."

He kicked in her grasp. "You damned snake spirit," he gasped, spitting at her defiantly. "You ruined my life. Now you're acting so innocent!"