p.o.v. xuxu
,,His Highness Emperor Ying, he took my spiritual powers...'', I finally told him the truth. His facial expression dropped and he pushed me away to properly face me.
,,How is that even possible?!''
,,I guess you've already been an immortal around that time, but fifty years ago there was another war going on in the mortal realm..That time Emperor Ying didn't allow anyone besides him to own spiritual powers, so he forced everyone to come so Sichuan and took out their spiritual core...With that everyone was weak, strengthless and almost guaranteed to die in this war, since just sword fighting isn't going to do much compared to people who still had their spiritual powers.''
,,So that's why you're so weak and tried everything to not be found by anyone of the Ying Clan..'' ,,I can't stand a chance against the Ying Clan or any enemy in general. I'm weak, I'm useless if another war breaks out...''
,,I'll protect you then.'', he reassured me, softly brushing over my hand again. Xianliang remembers me. The reason he broke down at the mountain was me, the name he can't mention is mine. I don't need any proof, I know it's Lu Xianliang standing in front of me. He'll eventually recognize me too, for sure...All I have to do is get closer to him again.
,,Sorry for acting like an idiot the last few days..'', I apologized sighing. If I had known it's him from the start...
,,Don't worry, everything's okay now. Let's just be friends from now on, shall we?''
I nodded smiling and wanted to hug him once again, but was interrupted by Yusheng running towards us, loosing his balance right in front of us.
,,Master Qin!'' I quickly knelt down in front of him and lifted him up. There was blood all over his stomach and chest, he was trying hard to keep his eyes opened.
,,What happened?!'', Xianliang asked worried, his eyes widening as he was looking at the deep wounds.
,,His...Highness...he killed them all..'', Yusheng was trying his best to get out any words, then coughed exhausted.
,,Who? Who did he kill?!''
,,My parents and..the guards...I barely escaped...but they're looking for me..and you...''
,,Shit, I'm so dumb...'', Xianliang suddenly cursed and buried his face inside his hands.
,,Why's that?''
,,I went to the Ying Clan..that evening we came back from the temple. He knows what I look like.''
,,Hanyu, out of all places, why Sichuan? Are you out of your mind?!'', I responded in shock.
,,Please stop fighting, we need to get away from he-'' Suddenly Yusheng threw up blood.
,,Where are we supposed to go? There's no place we're safe at!''
,,When I came to the mortal realm I came by some old ruins, south-east of Shandong. I don't think they'll look for us there.'', Xianliang suggested.
,,Will you be able to endure the pain until we're there?'', I asked Yusheng worried, doubting if he'll be able to go anywhere at this state.
,,Mhm..is there any village nearby?''
,,Yes, I think I saw some smoke in the distance.''
,,Let's go then, quick!''
With that we went on our way to Shandong, hoping there'll actually be a village or a doctor nearby. If not, then I doubt that Yusheng's going to survive more than two days. He lost so much blood and the few fabrics I tied around the wounds won't do much anymore soon.
It took us about four days, though we had to take many breaks because of Yusheng's severe wounds which wouldn't stop bleeding.
His death would cause countless obstacles. He's Elder Qin's only child, he's educated about every clan and all of his clan members and overall a very caring and good-hearted clan leader. And of course my closest friend, who I would miss incredibly if he died.
,,How...long..?", was all Yusheng could still stay.
,,We're here. Just behind that little hill is the village."
,,Hanyu...he really doesn't have any strength anymore...'', I pointed out with an exhausted sigh after having to carry Yusheng for four days now.
,,Come on, I'll carry him up there.'', he then said and picked him up from my arms.
It took us another ten minutes to finally arrive at the village. Coincidentally a man passed by and approached us: ,,I'm a doctor! Let me take care of his wounds!''
,,He's our clan leader..Please let him recover as soon as possible..'', I told him and let him take Yusheng into his house, to which we followed him.
,,My name is Zhao Jinhai, who are you, youngsters?'', he asked as he was putting Yusheng on a bed.
,,I'm..uhm..'', Xianliang started hesitatingly.
,,He's Hanyu, I'm Xuhuan-jun.'', I spoke for the two of us.
,,Xu...Xuhuan-jun? Is it really you?'', Mister Zhao asked surprised.
I nodded. ,,Is there a problem?''
,,No, no! It's just that you saved my clan. If you wouldn't have come here, I probably would have died with just being three years old..''
,,May I ask how old you are?''
,,Fifty-three.''
,,I see..''
,,I assume you're also an immortal, Master Hanyu?''
,,Mhm. But I didn't do nearly anything as great as Xuhuan-jun did.''
,,You ascended, so you must have done at least some respectable things in your past.''
Xianliang gulped. ,,Not..really...''
Since I noticed how uncomfortable he was feeling because of this specific topic, I quickly changed it. ,,Our friend's name is Qin Yusheng, I'm sure you know him.''
,,The Qin Clan, of course.''
,,Are his wounds very severe?''
,,He lost a lot of blood..But if he rests for the next few days and doesn't move too much...Hm, I'm convinced he'll be fine then. But I need to go get some herbs for his wound on his stomach..''
,,Shall Hanyu and I get some?''
,,That'd be very kind of you. I would rather not leave him alone..I could cook some soup in the mean time and take a look at the wound on his chest.'', Mister Zhao explained, then nodded in thankfulness.
,,Come, let's go. I saw a forest on our way here.'', I said and pulled Xianliang outside.
As soon as the door of Mister Zhao's house closed, Xianliang stopped and looked at me. ,,Xuxu...''
,,What?'' ,,Look at me..'' ,,Can't we go to the forest first? Yusheng really needs those herbs..''
I kept walking, but he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me back. Confused I looked at him and tried pulling my hand out of his grip, to which he just held onto mine even harder.
,,I said look at me.'', he repeated himself.
Kind of intimidated I finally faced him. We kept eye contact and stayed like this for a while.
,,Is something not right...?'', I carefully broke the silence.
,,What did you do in your past to be spoken of so highly by everyone?''
This honesty of his startled me, so I didn't really know what to say at first. ,,I..uhm...Why is that important right now?''
Xianliang took a deep breath, then slowly came closer and closer. ,,I'm curious.'' ,,I didn't do much actually...''
,,Are you joking?'' He was coming too close, so I wanted to move backwards, but bumped into a wall behind of me. What's gotten into him? Did I say something wrong?
,,If I offended you in any way, I'm-'' ,,There's a huge library in heaven. Every book, every story and every poem that ever existed is kept there. One day I read a book about a certain Xuhuan-jun.''
,,Are you hinting at something..?''
,,You risked your life countless times by fighting against the Ying Clan, without even having any spiritual powers. You were as weak as a mortal being. You saved three-hundred-fifty-nine clans from being rotted out. So who exactly were you talking about just now?''
Him caring so much about me all of a sudden, without even knowing who I am, brought me to tears. Why was he so interested in getting to know more about Xuhuan-jun before even meeting me? He didn't even seem surprised when we 'first' met.
,,You knew who I was when you first came to Jiangsu...Why didn't you say anything?'' ,,I had, and still have, incredibly high respect for you. I couldn't dare to just say that I know you or something.'', he confessed.
A few tears rolled down my cheeks. If you just knew who I am... ,,How did you ascend, Hanyu?''
,,I mostly just helped my brother lead his new-built clan, became a cultivator and killed about thirty Ying Clan members..."
,,And why do you speak so lowly of yourself then?"
,,I failed to save the love of my life..I just left him all alone with his wounds, left him to die.."
Hearing that made my heart skip a beat. Has he been living with these regrets for all these years? I don't even want to imagine how much he had to suffer or what he had to go through.
,,Please don't blame yourself..."
I don't want to see him being so weak, so depressed just because of me.
,,How can I not blame myself? It's my fault. It's always been my fault."
I couldn't bear seeing him like this any longer, so I just hugged him as tightly as I could.
,,Didn't you want to go get herbs?", Mister Zhao suddenly came outside.
I quickly let go of Xianliang and nodded.
,,We had something important to talk about.", he found an excuse, with that we left.