Gege falls from the sky

A harsh wave of disappointment hit Lai Yiteng.

Xian Wu was not here.

That should have been an obvious thing given the ruckus, because Xian Wu would've reacted to it by now if he were near...and Lai Yiteng knew that he shouldn't have expected anything. Knew he shouldn't depend on another person for anything.

He knew that doing so was foolish.

Xian Wu could be doing just about anything behind his back right now. Trusting him had been even the tiniest bit had been a grave mistake, or so his mind screamed at him in a flurry.

Lai Yiteng had little time to think about it, though, and ran outside the inn while readjusting the position of his erhu and luggage over his back.

Escaping long distances was easy if he just used his martial arts and pushed himself. But this time he'd only made past a few buildings when he felt the heart in his chest give a dull ache. Again and again, spiking with pain at each beat. He almost sunk to his knees from the strange shift in his body. It was both uncomfortable and difficult to ignore, but he just gripped his chest with a hand, letting his fingers pull into his skin beneath, and took a ragged breath before taking another step forward.

For some reason his throat burned and his mouth tasted kind of salty and metallic with blood. He swallowed it down.

...what?

Is there was something wrong with his body?

Lai Yiteng never used to get this run-down after using just a few martial arts techniques. Seven Lotus Breaths came naturally to him, he'd practiced it ever since he was a young boy.

Oh, the poison. Right.

Xian Wu had told him that he wasn't entirely better. Perhaps this was the cause? Or maybe it was Xian Wu who had been slowly feeding him poison with that strange concoction. Or perhaps...there had already been something wrong with himself after he escaped Lushang Sect.

Lai Yiteng despised this feeling of weakness and ignorance more than anything, but there was nothing he could do about it right now besides run down the main street. After all, if his body wasn't in the best shape then he couldn't possibly challenge Gojun Lao to a battle!

He forced himself to go faster.

Stars twinkled above. A few drunks and stray dogs loitered outside, and a flashy winery was also nearby, so the streets weren't entirely devoid of life even at such a late time. People turned their eyes to stare at him because he wasn't dressed properly.

Lai Yiteng chewed the inside of his mouth in aggravation.

How come those Lushang goons found him as soon as he entered a town!

The assassins at Pleasure of Jade must have identified him and leaked the information to Lushang Sect. Since Lushang was an influential power, naturally they had many arms and legs stretched over the country and could locate someone rather easily if there was any trail. His female disguise had been a good escape, but now it seemed it was fully compromised.

Lai Yiteng was angry at himself, too, because he should have been more careful to prevent this from happening. He shouldn't have performed at Pleasure of Jade.

It was unfortunate that Lai Yiteng was so distracted with his thoughts as he ran.

Something hit his ankles out of nowhere. Whatever it was wrapped around his legs, cold and hard like the shackles that hung off his body at Lushang Sect's dungeon.

With a startled grunt Lai Yiteng hit the ground and rolled, his palms turned bloody as he stopped his momentum.

In the next instance Lai Yiteng tried to scramble up, but his ankles had a weight and chain wrapped around them. These were like the same kind used when one would trip a horse, except that the throwing skill had to be much higher in order to trip a martial artist.

Yet, Gojun Lao had tripped Lai Yiteng, and was now walking down the street towards him at a leisurely pace. The disciple behind him was rubbing their bruised neck. The arms that Lai Yiteng had disabled were back in use with treatment from Gojun Lao.

Lai Yiteng rapidly pulled out his dagger to break the chains. Untangling them would take too long, and breaking them was possible if he used his inner force.

He took a deep breath. There was a loud clang.

...they didn't break!

He rammed his knife down on it again, yet the chains weren't damaged a bit.

What kind of chains were these?! He glared at them and was startled to find that the metal was not silver, but a snow white that gleamed in the starlight. Each chain link was wrapped and covered in a kind of silk, made by a golden silkworm and thousand-year spider.

It was so sturdily reinforced that even a martial artist could not casually break it.

Lai Yiteng found that his breaths were becoming shallower, but moved his hands to untangle the chains instead. It's fine...stay calm...

He could easily take out the disciple he'd strangled, but Gojun Lao was clean in form and eerily calm. To make matters worse, now even his legs were bound.

"Why bother?" Gojun Lao said measuredly. "Looks like you'll be returning to Lushang Sect to await the trial for your crimes."

A few onlookers gasped. It all must be a pretty good show to them.

Lai Yiteng's nerves turned even pricklier, a shiver went down his spine despite himself.

Saying there was a 'trial' was pure nonsense. At best the Lushang elders would only select the most painful way for him to be executed. At worst, he would be thrown back into the underground dungeon for experiments.

But he wouldn't go back to Lushang Sect. Not now. He would only go back when he could kill that Sect Master and burn the place to the ground!

Lai Yiteng started to untangle the rope, but Gojun Lao launched himself over with a single step. He stood directly over Lai Yiteng, bursting out into a low chuckle that was both restrained and condescending.

"Haha…it's true that what you know of Lotus Arts is decent, but how is it that you allowed your feet to be tied? It's no wonder your Master An abandoned you. Waste!"

He lifted his metal-toed boot and kicked Lai Yiteng in the stomach.

"Ugh!" Lai Yiteng coughed.

Ribs in his chest were pressed inwards from the impact and blood rose in his throat. He pulled out his dagger and swiped at Gojun Lao, but it was an useless effort when he lied helpless on the ground like this.

"Dare kill my brother!" Gojun Lao spat. "What do you think awaits you when I bring you back to Lushang Sect? I will make sure you will never experience another day of comfort until your execution."

He was kicked again, so hard he rolled back onto his back, but this time Lai Yiteng used it as on opportunity to flip onto his feet right afterwards. He was about to strike at Gojun Lao when there was a strong yank on his ankles.

Lai Yiteng was pulled back onto the ground.

Gojun Lao's disciple held the end of the chains that wrapped his legs as the culprit who had pulled them. He gave a malicious smile.

Lai Yiteng did not move the next moment, lying on the ground flat as though he'd given up. This was not the case, however, and would never be the case. He was just staring into the night sky above to try and think of a way trick to escape. Not in one-hundred thousand years did he expect that doing this would allow him to notice something peculiar.

Above his head, a lone figure was standing with their arms crossed on the eave of a liquor shop.

Their outline was dark, but seemed to be a man's.

It looked like they were about to jump off, but when their foot caught on the roof edging. The odd silhouette waved their arms wildly before falling off the three-story rooftop like a fool.

"..."

Lai Yiteng was so distracted by the display he actually forgot about his desperate situation for a moment. Yet, it was the same case with Gojun Lao and his disciple, who were also equally baffled by the strange man on the rooftop.

Everyone and even a dog was watching.

As that person plummeted from the roof they twisted their body one way or another in the air, indecisively, until landing on their feet a few meters away from Lai Yiteng with a resounding thud.

It was Xian Wu. Remarkable.

He wobbled once and the fall had caused his long braid to wrap around his neck like a scarf.

"...."

Gojun Lao stared at the man's strange appearance with caution, slinking back a few steps back from Lai Yiteng. Of course, anyone who could jump from that high with ease was clearly a martial artist and worth being cautious over...probably?

Lai Yiteng's eyes were wide.

"...gege, why are you...?"

There was a wine cup in Xian Wu's hand. He tried to get a drink of wine, his face was awfully red, but found out that all the wine got blown away during his long fall to the ground.

"Well this is disappointing," he remarked in a slur, "it's gone."

The wine cup was crushed to powder. He was clearly...drunk.