𝐀 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐜 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜. 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨-𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 "𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚". 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫'𝐬, 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞; 𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫'𝐬.
𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.
"𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐈, 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 – 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐈𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. "𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮," 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐝, 𝐒𝐤𝐲 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, "𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐞?"
𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫. "𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐮. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞."
𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝...
𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐍𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞.
⋙———————⋘
𝟕 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫
"𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!" 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐀 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤!"
𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐗𝐮 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐢𝐮 𝐁𝐞𝐢. 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.
"𝐅𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. "𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲. "𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭."
"𝐀𝐡, 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧!" 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠. "𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝."
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮? 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭?"
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥,𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡... 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞? 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐩." 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.
"𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭! 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 '𝐡𝐢' 𝐭𝐨 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫-"
"𝐍𝐨𝐩𝐞! 𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲," 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. "𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧?"
⋙————————⋘
𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟.
"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞-"
"𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬.
"𝐀𝐡, 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈'𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞," 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝.
"𝐇𝐮𝐡?"
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐀 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮-"
"𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧," 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲. "𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞?"
𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐬 𝐮𝐩, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞." 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 '𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭' 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭-"
"𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩."
𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲? 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫.
𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬. "𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭... 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨... 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭." 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠.
"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?" 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.
"𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭."
𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐋ü 𝐁𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞..."
"𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤, 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐘𝐚𝐧. 𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞?"
⋙————————⋘
You stood at the top of the stadium, shielded from the sun with Brunhilde and Göll beside you. The first round was about to begin with the final announcement being made. At first, you thought this would be something fun to watch, but now that it is finally happening in front of you, you couldn't help but feel this pit in your stomach forming when you saw Lü Bu on his stallion.
"With mankind's existence on the line in their final battle with the gods, Ragnarok, we've got one hell of a bout!" Heimdall continued with his speech. Lü Bu and his stallion came to a stop. Thor didn't seem to be fazed at the presence of Lü Bu and his raging army behind him. "For the gods, its strongest of the Norse gods, the berserker of thunder! Thor!"
Now it was the gods cheering.
"And the human challenger is..."
You looked to the sky noticing the bright green glow in the air. It struck down into Lü Bu's hand. Your eyes widened when you noticed the weapon.
"Sky Piercer," you whispered seeing the legendary weapon.
"...the strongest hero of the Three Kingdoms! Lü Bu!" Heimdall finished introducing them. His army cheered as he stood with Sky Piercer in his hand, the tip of the halberd nearly blinding you when it caught the sun.
"This is truly a battle of strongest versus strongest! The electricity in the stands is also at max voltage!"
"Thor!"
Your head turned almost by instinct when you heard someone call out to the god in the arena. You watched as a small man with glasses was yelling encouraging words to the god. It didn't seem to have any effect on him, he seemed almost.. bored? He just stood there...menacingly. Although his words soon died down when another yelled even louder.
"Zhang Fei?" you thought out loud seeing him down a whole barrel of mystery liquid. "What's in that barrel?"
"Hurry up and grind that bastard of a god into mincemeat! Hahahah!" he continued to drink out of the barrel before turning to his buddies next to him. "Gods versus mankind! Nothing could go better with liquor than this!"
"Of course, it is," you sighed. He hasn't changed much in the last thousand years. Lü Bu's army continued to cheer until a hand was put in the air. No way...
Chen Gong stood in front of the army, his hand silencing everyone behind him. You were shocked, but that soon faded when he started crying. You shook your head with a smile, It seems no one has changed, not even in death.
"Brunhilde, do you really think Lü Bu can win?" Göll asked.
" "Humans can't possibly defeat gods." Is that what you think, Göll?" Brunhilde asked back, softly smiling.
"Well, I mean... "
"I am sure that is what all the gods here still think. That's exactly why we have a chance. This is the perfect moment to bash their smug faces in as they scoff at humans," she said, looking down at the two competitors.
You stood with Göll a little shaken by what she said. You slowly nodded looking away from her. "Bash them in?" you heard Göll ask, scared.
"Bash them in," Brunhilde confirmed, proudly.
"Their smug faces?"
"Their smug faces."
"You know, you can sometimes say pretty mean things."
The two siblings next to you stopped talking when Heimdall suddenly did a weird T-pose. It looked like all the gods were waiting for him to do something. You were weirded, but as soon as he brought it closer to his mouth, you realized what was about to happen.
According to Edda, the story of Norse mythology, when Heimdall, watchman of the apocalypse. sounds the horn of the apocalypse, Gjallarhorn, the final battle between god and man, Ragnarok, will commence.
"It's really beginning..." you muttered, but Brunhilde still heard you.
She smiled softly, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder (it wasn't reassuring). "It'll be alright. I will be by your side through the whole tournament."
I'm not worried about me! I am worried about them! you shouted in your head, but on the outside, a smile was present on your face.
"Thank you, Brunhilde," you thanked her, placing your hand over hers. Whoever came up with this stupid idea to use Brunhilde's feelings for this plan is dumb... I am dumb.
Your head snapped back to the arena when Heimdall finally blew the horn. You could swear you saw the sound waves vibrating all the up into the sky. When he was done, he slumped forward looking tired. He quickly stepped back (a couple of hundred feet) until he was up against the wall, leaving Thor and Lü Bu alone.
"The battle between the strongest gods and the strongest humans! The first bout of this tournament is about.."
Everyone seemed shocked at what was happening in front of their eyes, even you. Lü Bu what are you doing!?
"Both combatants have lowered their weapons! Their guard is down! Neither of them is taking a stance!"
You glared down at Heimdall. A shiver went up his spine when he suddenly felt a terrifying presence. I can see that!
Your glaring contest with the mask of Heimdall soon stopped when you saw Lü Bu and Thor walking toward each other. "Now they're approaching each other!" No shit! "Unbelievable, both have started off with their guard down! What's more, they're both casually closing distance between them!" ...I am tuning you out.
The army next to you kept cheering while the gods were baffled. They have never seen a human this bold since Hercules!
Thor and Lü Bu. These dissimilar men have only a single thing in common. They vanquished their foes with a single blow.
"Oh gods, I am gonna puke," you said, holding a hand in front of your mouth.
While you were busy keeping your stomach contents inside, Thor noticed something about his opponent. His eyes weren't completely focused on him. Maybe it was a battle strategy to get him to think that he is weak, but every once in a while his eyes flickered somewhere. When his eyes lingered a little too long, Thor took the liberty to see what has taken his "worthy" opponent's attention away from him.
The human woman? he thought recognizing the familiar set of eyes. He grew more curious when an emotion flickered in Lü Bu's eyes, something unfamiliar to the god. Love.
But what these men did not know, was that the single thing that united them would soon not be alone. Another thought would soon occupy their minds and consume them.
When Thor looked back at his opponent he noticed him glaring at him. Hatred in his eyes, but not the same that one would have for an enemy, but for a rival. With a sudden movement, Lü Bu and Thor clashed their weapons. The gust of wind that blew from the impact nearly knocked the people in the front row of the arena.
Lü Bu, with all his might, pushed Thor away, giving the two space. Thor skidded to a stop, but Lü Bu was quick. He quickly jumped, striking Thor down. With a quick swipe, Thor's hammer, (Jonathan) Mjölnir, took the blast like a champ, sending Lü Bu flying back across the arena. Thor took off towards him, their weapons clashing in the middle.
You were feeling the heat of the fight from the top of the arena, the occasional wind breezing past you, when their weapons would clash. Something about this fight didn't feel right. You were not doubting Lü Bu's strength, but the thought that he is fighting a god with only a weapon, made you feel a little anxious. A shiver went through your spine when you felt someone stare at you. You searched through the crowds eventually meeting pale blue eyes.
Why is Aphrodite watching me? you thought ignoring the fight below. You were taken out of your trance when Brunhilde tsked. She took your arm pulling you on the opposite side of her.
"Gods. They can't keep their eyes to themselves," she grumbled, glaring at the goddess. Aphrodite simply smirked and waved at Brunhilde before winking one last time at you. This only pissed Brunhilde off. "Don't look at her. She only wants to direct your attention to her."
You nodded, before looking down back at the fight. Honestly, you were desperate to not watch this fight. A couple of seconds just staring at Aphrodite made your nausea settle down. You were thankful for that.
"You can do it, Lü Bu!"
"Awesome! He's equal to a god!"
You heard the people cheer in the arena. This made you hopeful. Maybe there could be a chance that Lü Bu would win? The hairs on your neck rose, and a feeling of static surrounded you. Thor held a hand up in the air, lighting surrounding his arm.
"What is that?" Göll asked, her voice slightly trembling.
"It's... electricity?" you said unsure. The feeling of electricity flowing through the arena was somewhat peaceful. It glided against your skin, almost like it was a friendly tingle. Strange.
Thor took Mjölnir with both of his hands, before leaning back until his hammer touched the ground behind him. The fuck? He will lose his balance standing like that.
You watched intently as every god held their breath, almost like they knew what was going to happen next. Thor slammed his hammer down, the arena filling with sand. Göll fell to her knees muttering how she felt hopeless. Brunhilde comforted her, but you stood alone, frozen by what you saw.
"Göll," you called out to her. "Stand up. This fight is not over yet."
Attention was brought back to the arena when Thor's hammer moved. Faster than you could see, a swipe went past Thor's chest, and blood was shed. You stood there shocked before a smile spread across your face. Lü Bu appeared out of the dust, a gruesome grin on his face.
"The strike from the human, Lü Bu, has injured the god, Thor!" Heimdall shouted, the gods silent from shock while the humans cheered—especially his army.
At this moment, the strongest man of all mankind, Lü Bu, and the strongest of all the gods, Thor, were, strangely enough, thinking the same thing. "If only we had been born in the same era and place, we might have had a worthy fight in front of them." Huh? That's not right.
Lü Bu's eyes went to the woman on top of the arena, his heart aching from the thrill of the battle and a worthy opponent. but nothing felt better than finding her. There was no way he was leaving without saying something.
Thor followed his eyes, he felt the same feeling as when he first saw her in one of Hestia's gardens. He thought she was a mere human, but now that he had heard rumors about her from Zeus, he simply must know what her ties are with the humans and gods. Maybe she is not a simple human girl who stumbled upon Brunhilde.
His eyes narrowed on Lü Bu. For the first time in eons, he felt competition.
"You... It is a waste that you are a mere human," Thor said, a smile so small you could barely see it if you were standing in front of him.
The two's blade and hammer quickly clashed, smiles on both of their faces when they realized they were truly able to fight with all their might. As the two were fighting, the king of gods (Greek Mythology) sat in his little box with Hermes next to him.
"Stop shouting right in my ear! I have not grown hard of hearing yet. Besides that, there is one other thing. When facing Thor's Mjölnir, any human weapon would crumple instantly. This is utterly impossible. There is no human weapon that can withstand a weapon of the gods," Zeus told Hermes, waving him off. His eyes son drifted to the three standing alone. "Wait! Could it be..."
He looked across the arena, making direct eye contact with Brunhilde. Her hand moved to the mysterious human next to her, she gently took the others' hand intertwining their fingers. Brunhilde smirked feeling the glare Zeus was sending her way.
"I get it now! You've outdone yourself, you cunning Valkyrie!" he said stroking his grey beard. His eyes went to the human. "And it seems you have reinforcements if something goes bad. Using a poor soul like that, I have to give it to you. You are willing to do anything to win."
His smirk slightly faltered when he saw the human focus her eyes on his. A faint glow in them made him curious. She smirked, putting her hand in the pocket of her jumpsuit. When she took it out, a big middle finger was shown to him. His happy mood turned sour before he read her lips.
"Good luck winning, you oxygen thief."
"That human..." he grumbled, his hands turning into fists. A murderous aura surrounded him.
"Ah, the young maiden? She seems quite lovely. Brunhilde surely knows how to pick them," Hermes chirped in, a smile on his face.
"You have met her?" Zeus asked, his aura being directed to him.
Hermes sighed, his head dangling low while a couple of his hair fell over his eyes.
"Someday, I will."