Don't Leave

"Whoa! Hey, stay back!" Maybe Shu's laugh and general appearance were a bit too much for her, because the little loli let out a sharp yelp. She kicked the iron sword dragging on the ground, and in the flickering candlelight, the heavy blade swung towards Shu.

Shu stopped in his tracks, silently watching as the momentum of the sword she'd swung sent the little loli tumbling headfirst into the ground.

Thwack! Shu winced, sucking in a breath.

Ouch, that looked like it hurt.

Good thing she was still holding the candle steady in her hand. Shu figured this little girl must usually use both hands to wield that sword. Right now, needing to hold the candle in one hand, she just couldn't control the heavy blade properly with only one hand.

Speaking of which, why didn't her master get her a smaller sword that actually fit her?

"You okay?" Shu asked with concern, leaning over her.

"You okay~" The little loli heard the clear mockery in Shu's voice as he leaned over, grinning.

She felt wronged and wanted to cry.

"Ugh…" The little loli slowly rolled over, sprawling on the ground in a starfish shape. "I lost."

Shu: "Uh… huh?"

What was she talking about?

"There's only me in the martial arts gym right now. You came to challenge us, I defended the gym and lost. You won. Now you can do whatever you want with me." With that, the little loli decisively closed her eyes, looking like she was ready to be carved up like a fish.

Whoa, is this for real…?

What kind of custom is this?! The world's gone crazy! Morals are in the gutter!

Shu thought indignantly. Then, he walked over to the little loli and picked up the iron sword.

The blade wasn't even sharpened yet, but the weight was solid. Even Shu, who knew nothing about swords, could tell it was a good one.

Just lifting it with one hand felt heavy. He couldn't imagine this little girl, who barely reached his waist, wielding it.

No wonder her first sword move was to kick it with her foot. If she had to swing this thing with just her arms, Shu thought he might actually lose to this little loli.

Of course, Shu was making a promise to himself not to use [Expectation].

Seeing Shu approach, the little loli instinctively shrank back. But when she saw Shu pick up her precious sword, her neck shot out again, a hint of unwillingness flashing in her dark brown eyes.

Shu tried swinging the sword a couple of times, but found it wasn't as easy to handle as that knife he'd snatched earlier.

Looks like swords just weren't his style…

Another avenue for showing off gone. This put Shu in a bad mood.

He glanced down at the little loli on the ground, who was staring at him with her neck craned. Shu was silent for a moment, then moved the sword a little further away, then brought it a little closer again.

The little loli's eyes followed the sword the whole time.

Shu then tentatively offered the sword to the little loli.

The little loli's eyes widened, looking at Shu offering the sword in disbelief.

Could he actually be a good person?

After a couple of seconds of dazed , the little loli sat up and reached out to take the sword, mumbling a thank you in a muffled voice, "Thank... you..."

Shu snatched the sword back. "No need to thank me. I was just showing you that your sword is pretty cool. It's mine now."

The little loli's pupils went wide with shock. Then, she fell backwards again, thwack, landing on her back, staring blankly at the dark night sky.

So tired. Just destroy me already.

No, wait. Shifu and Mom and Dad taught me never to give up easily!

Damn you, you jerk adult, you just wait! Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river [T/L: Chinese idiom meaning fortunes change; what goes around comes around]… This great hero will definitely pay you back double for today's humiliation!

The little loli cursed inwardly, but she stayed sprawled on the ground like a salted fish in a starfish pose.

Shu chuckled, placing the sword next to the little loli. "So, can you tell me about your Shifu? And why you're here all alone?"

The little loli on the ground rolled her eyes. She slowly sat up, not answering right away.

Hmph, let you be smug for a bit. Even without a sword… without a sword… without a sword…

Little loli: "..."

Yeah, without a sword, I'm still kinda helpless… That's Shifu's sword!

Seeing the little loli pouting with a wronged expression, Shu pushed the sword closer to her. "I can give it back to you, but you gotta trade me information for it. I ask, you answer, okay?"

"Really?" Joy rained down from the heavens! The little loli saw hope for "revenge"! She nodded eagerly. "Okay!"

"First question, why are you here?"

"Because Shifu told me to wait here." The little loli answered sincerely, her words exactly the same as before.

Shu: "…"

"Okay, new question." Shu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. His messy hair felt like it was coated in dust, making him really want to take a shower.

"When did your Shifu tell you to wait here? And where did she go?"

The little loli looked confused for a moment, thinking hard before looking up and answering. "Shifu told me this morning to wait here. As for Shifu… she left with a pretty white-haired lady and a golden-haired Rakshasa."

Rakshasa?!

Shu's expression became very interesting.

"Wait, what's your name?" The familiar term jolted some long-dormant memories in Shu's mind.

Hearing the question about her name, the little loli who was just sitting stood up in a flash and straightened up in front of Shu. "This lady doesn't change her name when she walks, or her surname when she sits! I am Li Sushang, the 48th generation disciple of the Taixu Martial Arts Gym, hero extraordinaire!"

Shu clapped in mock amazement. "Wow! So it's the legendary Li… Li Da-pillow… I mean, the famous hero Li Sushang!" [T/L: 李大枕 (Lǐ Dà Zhěn) - sounds like Li Sushang's name, but "Da Zhen" means "big pillow,"]

Like he said, Shu was a master of playing along.

Li Sushang was smug for barely two seconds before Shu picked up the sword from the ground again, clicking his tongue in wonder. "This sword, won from the hero Sushang… What if I don't want to give it back?"

Li Sushang: "…"

Bad guy!

She huffed and sat back down, while Shu chuckled and placed the sword back next to her.

Okay, he'd been guessing that this little girl's Shifu might be Fu Hua's grandpa, but now it seemed like the Shifu was Fu Hua herself.

Not too surprising. Generational titles and relationships in Shenzhou were seriously complicated.

It wasn't uncommon to see middle-aged people kowtowing to babies and calling them "Grandpa" during New Year's, not to mention the complicated master-disciple hierarchies.

Li Sushang had said she was the only one here. Now knowing that Fu Hua had just left this morning with that Rakshasa… with Otto and Kallen, leaving Li Sushang, a little kid, all alone here.

Then Fu Hua would definitely be back, and it wouldn't be too long. No matter how well-behaved a kid was, you couldn't just leave them alone for too long…

Wait, alone?

Fu Hua was in Nagazora City just a month ago…

"Li Sushang, have you been… all alone here for the past month?" Shu couldn't help but ask.

Li Sushang silently nodded, then whispered, "Because… everyone disappeared… A month ago, someone was screaming outside, then Grandpa Gym Master came. Then Dad grabbed his sword and went out with Grandpa. He told Mom to stay in the room with me…"

"Then, Dad didn't come back… After a few days, Mom went out too… and she didn't come back either… So I stayed in the room all by myself… Later… I couldn't take it anymore… so I snuck out to find food… And then, I found a piece of paper at the door, Mom wrote it for me…"

"It said…" Li Sushang lowered her head, curling her legs up to her chest, her small body suddenly looking incredibly fragile.

"[Li Sushang, you have to protect the martial arts gym, don't leave, don't leave!]"