Nature 2

Su had managed to mumur 'thank you brother' before dozing off.

From that day onwards, Su had been on the monthly cycle. But the monthly pains associated with the discharge came in a pattern; one month off and the next month on. Lu Kang had become accustomed with this strange cycle - his brother would fall sick on a day in about every two months. On days like this, Lu Kang would even stay over in his room till the next morning. Few other people knew about this too; like the old physician who regularly gave Lu Kang the herbs to put in the water and Old Yan in the kitchen who supplied the sweet snacks Su craved to him. Apparently, they had all believed Su had a medical condition that disturbed him bi-monthly. They all would've never imagined it was an entirely different story.

Apart from when he was indisposed, Su was a young lad who never missed a day of training. He rarely held grudges with his fellow trainees and he was respectful to his seniors too. Master Lu watched the young man closely and always felt something different about him. He spoke to Yeong about it.

"what do you think about this kid, Su?"

"he seems determined in a different way... he doesn't desire to join the Royal guards at the palace or become the best swordsman in Baekji. His passion must be for something else"

"In few years, I will assign him together with Kang and one of the other trainees to Mt. Chi. They will be in-charge of the supplies there"

"Master, pardon me... but assigning them to Mt. Chi is a dangerous decision. I am afraid they won't be able to handle the situation there. Dragon Fist has informed me of the recent invasions of the 'Dead Owls'... those fellas are hell-bent on getting the supplies"

"this is why I have said in few years... I am giving them some time to prepare, and you enough time to prepare them"

"Yes master"

"Dragon Fist is getting advanced in age, it is high time the younger ones take over or Mt. Chi will fall into the hands of the Dead Owls in no time"

"but Dragon Fist will forever reject the idea of leaving Mt. Chi..."

"he will have no choice this time. In few days, i will pay him a visit. Come, let us go to the training grounds."

Master Lu was someone who spoke little words but Yeong spoke even lesser words than him. Perhaps, the only person Yeong would speak to was Master Lu. Just like his master, he had no woman in his life and his personal life was a dead-end. He never left the Academy either; unless on occasions when he was sent to Mt. Chi by his master.