Man from the Wild South

Chapted 4

Chapter 4 (Part 1)

Shang Guan Jing wakes up with a start. Something is amiss and it is not just because she is now sleeping on a bed instead of a chair in Feng Jin’s room. Her lips feel sore but she has no time to think more as she registers the sound of swordplay coming from outside the room.

Seeing that Feng Jin is not in the room, she grabs her sword and dashes out. There in the bamboo groove, a figure in black is banishing his sword in front of Feng Jin. Have the villains in the forest returned?

She cannot ascertain if the person is friend or foe, but the sword is too close to Feng Jin for her comfort. Drawing her own sword, she leaps swiftly between the man and Feng Jin, and yells for Feng Jin to leave. He does not know martial arts and is her Achilles heel – if the attacker is smart and captures Feng Jin, she will have choice but to surrender to ensure his safety.

As she turns her attention back to the shadowy figure, she is now certain that he is a man dressed in black. His sword movements are swift and sure – he definitely qualifies as a top-notch swordsman – and it remains to be seen if she can hold her own against him. Tightening her grip on her sword, she strikes out him in rapid succession as she thrusts, parries, and sweeps, her 49 strokes swift as lightning.

She drives the man back a few steps before she changes angle and executed another 49 strokes with even greater speed. Within her sect, her sword skills are the best and Teacher has praised her for it. A long time ago, teacher has said that with her skill, she can help the weak, punish the wrong, and bring glory to their sect. Their sect…..

What is left of her home back at Yu Ling peak?

There is a strangeness in the air, and she is aware of it the moment she stepped inside the bamboo groove. The feeling is similar to the strange sensation in the forest but right now, the atmosphere is 10 times weirder. Almost uncontrollably, a wave of grief rise up within her and nearly engulfs her totally in its despair as it overwhelms her senses.

She loses focus on the fight at hand and reality takes on a strange hue in between the clash of swords. As she defends herself from the man in black who is now fighting with renewed vigour, her mind relives the betrayal of her seniors. In her mind, she relives the anguish and pain that has came from the betrayal. She can feel herself slacking and behind her opponent’s sword, she can almost see the doors of hell in the distance beckoning for her to descend into its darkness.

A clap of thunder cuts through the air at the same time that she is jolted by a pain so sharp, that it causes her brain to swirl. Then comes another clash of thunder and her sword flew out from her hands. She tumbles backward and collapses brokenly into the arms of the remote man who has not moved an inch since the start of the fight.

While Shang Guan Jing fainted, Yan Ying is thrown out into the air. His body crashes through a clump of bamboo until he lands in a motionless heap on the floor. Just seconds earlier, Yan Ying has been by consumed by a strong – almost insane – urge to fight and win. Slash. See blood. Cut down his opponent. Win. Having hanged around Feng Jin’s side much longer than Shang Guan Jing, he knows that his mind has been manipulated and this could only mean that his employer is in a foul, foul mood.

He is not bitter that someone has tried to tinker around with his brain – probably only the most strong-willed among stubborn people can remain immune – and he is only thankful that Feng Zhu has stopped whatever crazy he is doing, or he could have gone mad with the primal bloodlust that has turned him into a battling beast just now.

Gingerly, he picks himself up and takes stock of his injuries. Nothing seems broken (thankfully!) and it seems that he has suffered only minor scraps. While it is uncharacteristic for Feng Zhu to be so mild-mannered, he is not going to complain about his good fortune and picks himself up from the ground gingerly.