Day 05: “We’re Bored, So Let’s Play Uno.”

My mother used to tell me, if someone loves to fight then it means they are a rebel, and if someone loves to bully it means they are scum. But if someone fights with a bully, it means justice is served.

"Never mess with us again.", Liao Yan said as he threw another stone towards those unruly farmers.

We were lucky that those farmers had no martial arts knowledge, or else, we're finished. Liao Yan and I fought them with fists and stones, we managed to win the fight and drove them off with the stones. It was quite a manly fight, since I got to use some kung fu moves that I learned from the Ip Man movie. However, since the two of us weren't very athletic, we got ourselves some bruises and drops of blood coming out from our mouth and nose. Plus, my sprained leg hasn't healed completely, so it was a painful experience to the fullest.

"How's your leg?", Liao Yan sat on the ground while wiping off the blood from his nose.

"Awful.", I sat next to him while trying to adjust my leg.

"This is the first time we fought with an adult.",

"They're not an adult, just a scum trapped in the body of an adult.",

Liao Yan laughed and laid on the ground, both of us were exhausted. However, today is a good experience for both of us. In case one day Li Xiang or Zhao Baiguang needed a hand, we will be ready to fight alongside them.

"What are you two doing laying here?",

Zhao Baiguang and Li Xiang appeared out of nowhere with a bag filled with fruit.

"What happened? Why are you two hurt?", Li Xiang crouched down to see our wounds, "Did you two fight with someone?",

Liao Yan was surprised by Li Xiang's action and get up immediately, "More like we were attacked first.",

"How?",

I tried to get up as well, but my sprained leg failed me. Hence, I explained how we got a taunting message from an arrow to an ambush from those unruly farmers. Zhao Baiguang was quite angry and bemused by them, in the end, Liao Yan helped me to stand and we both went back inside the restaurant. Due to our chivalrous actions for today, Zhao Baiguang began to trust us as her people and revealed her real identity. It turns out, she's the Empress of this continent while Li Xiang is a general accompanying her on this journey. Li Xiang explained to us about this village. She said this village was built by a couple of runaway prisoners. The village was known for its black market and illegal trading, which is why Zhao Baiguang and Li Xiang had to go to this village to settle the problem once and for all.

Now, it's our turn to doubt these two women. They said they are a general and an empress, how could an empress freely roam around the ins and outs of this continent? As for Li Xiang's case, I won't doubt her identity, but we're talking about Zhao Baiguang here.

"I know the two of you must've asked how could an empress like me roam freely outside the palace. Did I get it right?",

Seriously, is she a wizard? How did she know about our thoughts?

"I may be an empress, but I used to be a general as well. Li Xiang was the vice general, but due to… an uncalled event, I was married to the emperor and the reason why we're here, is because there were few unknown villages like this. This kind of village didn't pay the kingdom's tax and they accept bandits and runaway prisoners. This kind of village can't be allowed to exist.",

Li Xiang nodded and added, "We used to have another two guards, however, we were ambushed by a group of bandits and took their lives.",

Now that explains the two extra horses which only one left right now. If these two managed to survive with just the two of them. It means they are masters of martial arts, now as guys Liao Yan and I felt embarrassed because we lose in both power and tactics. We only knew how to fight like a goon.

"Besides, we told you to stay here, why would you go outside?", Zhao Baiguang asked.

I quickly covered Liao Yan's mouth before he spoke. This is an embarrassing case, I surely don't want Zhao Baiguang to know about the gay waiter crushing on me. However, this act only gets the two women even more suspicious. While I let my guard down, Liao Yan broke free and told them the truth. Thankfully, Zhao Baiguang and Li Xiang didn't laugh and they weren't surprised either. The fact that they're not even surprised bothers me very much.

"I-I see… I suppose, we should be careful here as well.", Zhao Baiguang coughed twice and pretended that she didn't hear anything. On the other hand, Li Xiang sighed and told us to stay in this room to avoid the waiter. She also asked me to make a tonic for Zhao Baiguang to relieve her stress and fatigue. I told her that it shouldn't be necessary because it might harm the fetus inside her stomach. I was expecting her to ask a few more questions, but surprisingly, she just nodded her head and told Zhao Baiguang to sleep in the room.

Speaking about the room, there's only one room available. Hence, we were kicked out of the room and guarded in front of the door. Since we were bored again, Liao Yan took out the Uno cards again and we both continued our game from earlier. While in the middle of the game, Li Xiang suddenly went outside and spotted us playing colorful cards.

"What are you two doing?", Li Xiang also crouched down with full interest.

"We're playing a card game from our time called Uno, does the lady want to join as well?", Liao Yan said happily.

"I don't know how to play it.", Li Xiang looked at me and her eyes were sparkling like a child who wanted a lollipop.

"Liao Yan will explain the rules.",

Liao Yan's face brightened and he gladly explained the game rules carefully to Li Xiang. Li Xiang paid attention to his explanation seriously, which made me laugh a bit.

"Why are you laughing?", Li Xiang asked cautiously, the sparkles in her eyes suddenly disappeared and only had the impression of cold as ice left.

Oh, crap....

"This subject apologized, it's just this subject didn't expect to play such modern games with the lady.",

Li Xiang rolled her eyes to the left and said, "Thinking from your perspective, I suppose it is indeed a peculiar turn of events to happen.",

"This subject apologize for the misunderstanding.",

"No, it was me who was being too sensitive.",

"What's this ruckus about?",

Zhao Baiguang who was resting inside suddenly came out and looked at us with the same interest as Li Xiang earlier. Damn, these girls do love Uno…

In the end, the four of us played Uno in the room. Liao Yan also brought a powder with him, for those who get lost, their face will be covered with powder. Zhao Baiguang already understood the game after being explained once. She won four strikes in four rounds, truthfully speaking, she's the only one who didn't get her face covered in powder. I guess that's the empress for you, her tactics and pulling bait is excellent. Li Xiang lost once, while Liao Yan lost three times. He got a lot of powder covering his face. It was a fun night before we get to deal with tomorrow's business.