Chapter 2.7

The horizon shone with beams of light, but the glowing yellow ball had yet to rise. With the bleak rays lighting their way, nobles and wives from all walks of life gathered before the emperor.

He dressed in hunting clothes this day, his bow held by his most trusted servant. His trusty steed stood next to him, ready to take his master anywhere in the world.

Everybody's hair was pulled up with jade headpieces, so it did not hinder their arrows from hitting true. They stared at their emperor, rapt.

He in turn surveyed the crowd. After a moment, he began to speak, his voice rising above the raging winds. "The fall hunt has always been a tradition. It is a source of honor for all who participate and a means to prove your worth to Us(1)." A strong wind blew past, stinging everybody's exposed ears.

"In past years, We have always held a small archery and sword fighting competition to begin the fall hunt, but We fear the winds are too fierce today, and We do not want Our humble subjects to fall ill so unfortunately. Therefore, We decree that the fall hunt shall begin with no further delay. When night falls, everybody shall gather here once more to count prey. Disperse."

Although the emperor's words were law, everybody did not indeed leave at once. First, they unanimously bowed, cupping one hand with another in front of them. "Long live the emperor!" they yelled, mimicking a scene Ling Xia had often seen before the soldiers of the galactic empire would leave for battle.

The men began to brave the forest, some riding their horses, some on foot. Their wives stayed back, waiting worriedly, or in some cases, anticipating their husband's deaths gleefully.

Ling Xia glanced back before the forest completely engulfed him. His eye caught two people. One was incredibly conspicuous, the emperor himself. The other was Feng Lian.

A slight scowl appeared on Ling Xia's lips. It seemed Feng Lian had a lot of practice with being a spy. The way he and the emperor interacted with each other implied this was not new. Although, it was probably Feng Lian's first time getting married, and to a man at that.

A loud call drew his attention away from the scene. He peered over his shoulder, finding Liu Zhaofa beckoning him over. He was standing next to Liu Zhaoren. The older brother's actions were clearly to the younger's great ire.

While Ling Xia jogged over, Liu Zhaoren snarkily commented on his presence. "Finally grown the balls to attend?" Liu Zhaofa shot him a scolding glare, but Liu Zhaoren crossed his arms, unbothered. "Why are you even here anyways? You're only going to slow us down."

Ling Xia did not answer this clearly malevolent question. He was trying to elude all of these pitfalls today. He had a hefty task ahead of him: slaying a lion.

The reason he wanted to prevent the massacre that occurred in the original timeline lay somewhere between power and glory. Glory because his plans included letting the lion kill a few before killing it himself; Power because there was a conflict brewing in the north, the opposing force one to be reckoned with.

The loss of so many nobles that day led to disarray in the government and the line of authority. The normally wise emperor's hands were full with bringing order to chaos, and he turned a blind eye to the suffering of the villages in the north, the invading force exploiting this fact to its maximum potential.

It was the beginning of the end, but it didn't last very long. In a flash, the villages had gone up in flames, the invaders pushing their way to the capital with a speed to be feared. They conquered it quickly, and then the end had ended.

The Song dynasty was effectively stripped of its power, hence why Ling Xia wanted to prevent that from happening.

Speaking of which, the fate of this world merely watched her country crumble in the real timeline. Earlier, Ling Xia had assumed she had transmigrated like Mu Ninghua, which would most probably give her information on the impending doom of the dynasty, but her inaction hinted at another possibility.

Ling Xia would have to confirm it, but perhaps Gu Bing was only acting as if a new soul was inhabiting her body to restart her relationship with the love of her life and to stand apart from the crowd. If that was the case, Ling Xia had lost all inhibitions regarding the enactment of revenge on Gu Bing if she tried anything sneaky.

A feeling suddenly settled in his stomach. He could not tell if the cause was his thoughts or the possible lurking of a lion. Always one to listen to his gut, he slowed, subtly moving farther behind Liu Zhaoren. He only needed one of the two brothers alive to prevent his death, and he preferred it to be Liu Zhaofa.

Following closely behind Liu Zhaoren, his eyes darted around like a thief, straining to find danger. The group weaved through trees, footsteps faintly marking the soft dirt, and Ling Xia's head tried to stay unmoving.

At once, he was all too aware of the quiet surrounding him. His ears buzzed as if to fill the silence. His pace slowed further.

"Liu Zhaoning! What are you doing? Stop walking at a snail's pace!" Ling Xia's gaze snapped to Liu Zhaoren, piercing right through him. There was something wild in his eyes, an instinct he could not control.

Liu Zhaoren's foot went back, disobeying him for a second. Fear transformed his face, a side-effect of his shock. But soon, familiar cowardice replaced the look on Ling Xia's face, and his head bowed, somewhat soothing Liu Zhaoren's nerves. Although, fear still considered his body home.

Leaves rustled behind him. He yelped, immediately assuming the worst, bolting faster than Liu Zhaofa had ever seen. He proceeded to freeze, realizing nobody had followed him. Awkward silence ensued.

Hot red shame burst onto his cheeks, and the gusts of wind refused to cool him down like they used to. Ling Xia stared at Liu Zhaoren, a conflicted expression planted on his face. Was his gaze really that frightening?

He closed his eyes in acceptance, turning back to relieve Liu Zhaoren of some discomfort. His gaze found the bush in front of him, which Liu Zhaoren's quick retreat gave him a clear view of. A glint shone through, and his vigilance spiked.

His mind immediately thought of the worst possibility—somebody had come to assassinate the Liu family sons, but after a second glance, he saw that there was something else. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see clearly.

A sheen of water covered whatever it was, and every once in a while, it disappeared. Ling Xia immediately recognized it for what it was, an eye.

A sharp inhale brought air into Ling Xia's lungs. There was only one animal in this forest that hunted humans. "Run!" Without another word, he fled the scene.

The sound of flapping wings assaulted his ears as birds scattered left and right. It faded away, the sounds of heavy breathing and footsteps filling the space it left behind. An inhale and an exhale, step after step up the steep incline, Ling Xia heard everything. Then he realized that everything was not enough.

He screeched to a stop in front of a tree, bark to nose. Immediately, the strange absence of noise became apparent.

Fearing the worst, he whirled around, but he spotted his companions quickly, alive and breathing.

A lion approached them slowly, moving closer and closer with every passing moment. He seemed to be conflicted over which brother would satisfy him more. Both of them were easy prey, standing frozen in fear, for they had never felt the presence of death so clearly. Their eyes stayed locked on the lion, and their feet moved as if trying to leap into motion. Trying.

Incredulity filled Ling Xia. The birds had heeded his warning, had flown their best, but his human companions had not. Instead of choosing between flight and fight, they froze, indecision their bane. A sigh of frustration escaped Ling Xia.

He would not care if innocents in this world died, but he could not unreasonably condemn them to death either. Although that fact irked him endlessly, he would just have to reconcile with the truth; Indifference was not a trait of his.

He pulled his bow off of his shoulder and nocked an arrow, trying to steady his hand. The arrow was pointing at the ground as the string slowly stretched back because Ling Xia didn't find himself capable enough of aiming just yet. His arm strained just to keep the bowstring pulled back full-length, and he cursed his luck again. Li Ming was one thing, but Liu Zhaoning was an entirely other when it came to strength.

Nevertheless, Ling Xia stilled his arm skillfully. He aimed his arrow, taking care not to let it slip from his slightly trembling hand. If released, it would strike the lion's head, the one leaning back on his legs.

He appeared to have finally chosen his prey. He inched toward Liu Zhaofa, gathering power into his great haunches and then leapt. The thud of a human slamming against the ground followed.

A slice of red appeared on Liu Zhaofa's cheek, a result of the lion's claw scratching it as he landed with his legs beside Liu Zhaofa. He opened his mouth again, emitting a low growl.

Ling Xia's heart jumped. The lion's canines were glistening with desire, and Ling Xia had not yet acted. He hastened to adjust his aim. Letting the arrow loose, he watched as it soared through the air, plunging into the lion's shoulder.

But not before the damage had been dealt.

The lion's howls echoed Liu Zhaofa's screams, the only noise in the still forest. He released his hold on Liu Zhaofa, retracting his teeth from Liu Zhaofa's mangled arm. Liu Zhaoren stared in horror as blood spewed from his brother's wound. He took a step forward, but then his eye caught the blood-smattered fur of the lion, and he could not go farther.

Ling Xia, who observed from afar, scoffed at these wimpy actions, but he supposed they were justified. Every human had a right to fear death.

Unfortunately, his plan had required Liu Zhaoren's tacit cooperation. He bit his lip, calculating how much more dangerous saving the brothers himself would be.

The lion began to rise from its hunched over form, and Ling Xia threw his precautions away. He dashed back, dirt flying away with his steps. His body entered Liu Zhaoren's sight, shocking him out of his fear-struck thoughts with a gasp.

His surprise was cut short by Ling Xia, who grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward his brother. He struggled, for nearing his brother meant nearing his potential doom, a beast that was slowly recovering from his initial shock.

"You value courage, yes?" Ling Xia asked, truly baffled. The question had no visible effect on Liu Zhaoren. He continued to fight against Ling Xia, but time did not stop for him. The king of the jungle's fury only grew. His claws dug into the ground in a failed attempt to push himself up despite the pain that was plaguing him.

Disgust flashed through Ling Xia's eyes at this young man's hypocrisy. In the past timeline, Liu Zhaoren had fiercely reprimanded his eldest brother for abandoning Liu Zhaofa because of fear, but he held himself to different standards in the heat of the moment. Ling Xia despised such people.

"Then run," he offered, his disgust hidden but his dismay clear. He loosened his grip, allowing Liu Zhaoren to leave if he wanted to. And then he waited.

He expected hesitation, possibly even reluctance. He expected guilt because Liu Zhaoren was betraying himself. He expected love from one brother to another. He did not expect a sudden gust of wind as Liu Zhaoren raced past him.

A flurry of emotions collided with Ling Xia as he watched the quickly retreating back, a quiver almost falling to the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut, reminding himself that none of this was real.

A scene formed in his mind: a reimagination of the event, one where he was in his own body, unconstrained by the character traits of a person he did not care for. He would grab Liu Zhaoren and force him to look into the eyes of the one he had betrayed.

He smiled at the thought, his appearance stark in contrast to his surroundings as white was to black. Things would go down much differently there. Perhaps Liu Zhaoren would even change his mind.

He wished desperately to be in his body. However, he was the one that had chosen his job. It was his duty to continue on, his repayment to the one who had saved him from a life on the streets so long ago.

But he wished to be in a world where he could make his own choices.

It suddenly struck him that maybe that world was not his world.

The gloomy thought passed through his mind, but in an instant, it was gone with the realization that he was wasting time. It would come back. It always did.

Ling Xia's eyes snapped open, sighting the lion immediately. He was closer to Liu Zhaofa than before, clearly wanting to prepare one meal before beginning to chase down the other.

Liu Zhaofa lay trembling underneath the lion. A large shadow encompassed him, a sign of the animal that loomed above. He believed he could be saved. He told himself that he believed he could be saved. Death would not come so early to him.

A cold wind rushed past. Liu Zhaofa's head habitually turned to shield himself. But amidst the biting cold, a warm breath splayed across the crook of his neck, and a growl all too loud sounded. His blood froze.

~~~

Notes:

1: The emperor always refers to himself differently than everybody else. In pinyin it would be 'zhen' but I decided to translate it to 'we' and all the different forms of the pronoun because it's kind of like he's talking about himself as a bigger person than he is, like he represents the entire country, and because using 'zhen' makes it seem like a name. 'We' is always capitalized when he means it this way. Otherwise, he means a group of people.