Ch.7 A Raging Fire

The fan left her hand again and cut through the prison locks before returning in a circle like a boomerang.

After the initial shock of witnessing her skills, the villagers quickly poured out from the prison doors. There were the men supporting the elderlies and the women carrying the children, all looking a little haggard from the months they have stayed captured here with their hopes of seeing the daylight again slowly rotting away each day. Still, they didn’t forget to give their gratitude to the mysterious lady who had saved them.

"Esteemed benefactor, thank you for saving our lives! Please accept our bow of gratitude!" she watched a thousand people try to kneel in this cramped place and her eyes twitched.

She remembered when she had been approached by 'that person' the first time, the first thing she had done was to dig her teeth deep into his arms and bit him hard enough so that he would back away from her personal space. However, he had not backed off and instead had used his other hand to pet her head. He had tried to smoothen the thorns she had put out with soft whispers of 'It’s alright. Everything is fine now. I'm here now.'. She had calmed down a bit, felt insulted by the fact that she was like a wild animal being tamed, and then bit down even harder.

Well, she has never denied that her personality really wasn’t the best out there and that was precisely why she couldn’t stand this bunch of overly polite people. Rude people, she could still deal with, but people with manners were the ones that left her feeling slightly lost.

"Enough. Will you kneel here the entire night?" despite the slight frown on her face, her tone has considerably softened. "I will only ask all of you one question. Will you keep your houses or your lives?"

The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment, unsure what their benefactor meant by that but whatever she meant, the answer was obvious enough. They looked back at her with determination in their eyes. "We wish to keep our lives."

"I thought so as well." She took out a token hidden within the inner layers of her robe. Different from the ones in her collection, this was a token made from the most precious material that should have only belonged to members of the Imperial Family –a green jade. On it, a majestic-looking phoenix had been meticulously crafted by the best craftsman in the Capital. This, was the token that had brought about chaos in the Imperial Court a few years ago, the rumoured Token of Immortality! She held it out towards the villagers and at times like this where the lukewarm look in her eyes was replaced by seriousness, the domineering presence of the one revered as The God of War easily brought people to their knees. "Under the Token of Immortality, I, The God of War Luo Yue, command the villagers of LanLing to give their full cooperation."

As she made her identity known, a part of her wondered if she should have worn a mask. Five years of seclusion have made her forget that she had never revealed her identity and face simultaneously in front of so many people before.

"T-the… the God of War?!" Who in this era hasn’t heard of that name? The Late Emperor's favourite General, the most powerful figure in the Imperial Court, and the last line of defense for the North. But who would have thought... The legendary God of War was actually... A lady?!

"Is there any objections?" she did not have time to watch them gawk.

They straightened up instantly as they realised the solemnity of the situation. Unless this incident could pose a threat to the safety of their Great North, the God of War would not likely have appeared in a small village like this. A single mistake could spell the end for their Kingdom. Who would dare make any noise?

"No, we will follow your command!"

~Meanwhile~

The moonlight seeped through the open windows and landed on the sleeping commander of the East. Unbeknownst to him, Shen Tian Ping has acquired the Eastern token and was slowly creeping up to him from the shadows.

He pulled out a dagger and in one elegant move, the head of the now-dead commander rolled down the floor; his eyes still closed as he remained forever in whatever peaceful dream he was having.

The enemy’s commander has been slain but Shen Tian Ping’s eyebrows furrowed slightly instead. Although his assassination skills could be said to be one of, if not the best in the North, there was something fishy about the way a commander from the East was so easily killed that was making him suspicious.

‘This has to be reported to Master.’

~Meanwhile~

Receiving his first task, Xiao Liu had easily entered the Temple and stolen the oils used for prayers. Although he had been stopped a few times with soldiers questioning his identity and almost felt his heart stopped along with his steps, he had tried his best to imitate that arrogant and intimidating way Luo Yue had spoken in. While that had not worked out that well, the token that his Master had given seemed to have done the trick.

Now, he moved quietly in the night, executing the next part of the task his Master had given.

To douse the houses in oil.

He hasn’t even gone to the last of the houses when he heard a loud shout and the next moment, the first house nearest to the prison has already gone up in flames. Then, like the firecrackers he had only ever been fortunate enough to watch other kids his age play with, the neighbouring houses all caught the fire one by one. In a flash, it seemed as though the entire LanLing Village has been used to make a large campfire.

"It's a night attack!"

"The prisoners have escaped!"

"They’ve stolen the horses, it’s impossible to stop them!"

"The villagers are burning their own houses!"

"Wait! What about our people inside?!"

"The houses are burning too fast! We can’t stop them!"

"Get the commander!"

Because five thousand people have taken over a place built for a thousand, there were a lot of soldiers crammed inside a single house at night, making it almost impossible for all of them to escape their fate. And now, the soldiers on patrol watched with their own eyes as the houses crumbled down, bringing along the bodies of their comrades with them.

For some time, as the hellfire reflected off his clear eyes, Xiao Liu did not move from the spot.

"Do you feel guilty for their deaths?" It was only when a voice sounded behind him that he woke up from his daze.

"Ping-ge!" Xiao Liu turned around and warmly greeted the male who was leaning against the walls. "What is there to feel remorseful about? If we had not killed them, they would have killed us, right? I am not naïve, Ping-ge. Even I know that we are living in the period of war."

His unexpected answer made Shen Tian Ping blink in surprise. He remembered, a long time ago, a certain young girl around his age had said a similar thing.

__

[A Decade Ago]

"Guilty?" there was a sort of dark abyss in her eyes as she stopped stabbing the dead enemy to look at the soldier who had asked that question. "Will me feeling guilty stop them from killing me?"

The soldier was unable to counter and left the girl and her bodyguard after throwing them a disgusted look.

One was a block of wood and the other a lunatic, why should he stay and talk to them?

"No," The Late Emperor appeared suddenly and answered honestly as he gently took away the stick in her hands. "However, it is disrespectful to insult the body of an already dead person. After all, don’t you think that it’s disgraceful to fight a person who can no longer fight back, Yue-Er?"

*Yue-Er = 'Er' is a form of endearment meaning 'child'

"Oh," The young girl still sitting on the grass turned to look at the bloodied sight in front of her and contemplated for a long while. Then, she slowly stood up and nodded, "You’re right."

He chuckled and patted her head, "oh and, Yue-Er, why don’t you return the tokens you’ve taken from the bodies of the enemies as well. Even if they’re pretty, it could have meant something to the dead soldiers."

The moment those words left his mouth, Luo Yue’s eyes narrowed instantly like those of a serpent's as she backed away while holding her head. The head he had dared pat.

"!!!" she gave The Late Emperor one hard glare, turned, and sprinted away, leaving him trying to hold back his laughter as he watched her back disappear.

__

Shen Tian Ping felt that Xiao Liu was a little similar to Luo Yue. Perhaps, it was because they had both seen enough at a young age. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I was watching the fireworks!" he grinned innocently while pointing to the raging inferno. Alright, perhaps a little too similar, Shen Tian Ping corrected himself. Was that why she had decided to take him in? "Are you here to watch too, Ping-ge?"

"I’m here to pick you up," Shen Tian Ping answered. "In case you got lost."

"I am not a kid!"

~~