Black tiger did not die right away. A wound at that location was not fatal.
He did not have the luck of that mountain bandit Baron, who had died instantly.
Black tiger collapsed on the ground. He wanted to get up, hence he supported his body with both hands. But his lower half was not responding to him...
He could see his injury on his abdomen clearly, along with the reds and greens that were slowly flowing out.
He could feel his life slip away as he stared at himself with open eyes, unable to do anything about it.
"Ah—-!"
"Ah—-!"
"Ah!!!!!!!!"
Cries after cries of pain traveled far, far away from the canyon.
None of the nineteen mountain bandits dared to look at their boss.
Some had their heads turned away, while some had their eyes shut.
As for some who were cowardly and afraid of death, their bodies were already wracked with shivers!
Yeri shuddered involuntarily as she lay on the mountain slope.
Black tiger's screams made goosebumps rise on her skin.
Lisa stood still as she looked down at black tiger from above. She watched until black tiger's face gradually turned a waxy yellow; the colour of someone who was about to die.
The guts on the ground along with some reds and greens that had flowed out of black tiger's sliced abdomen made a wide pool.
Lisa held her blade as she walked two steps forwards, stepping on it without a care.
Black tiger was already fighting for his breath. His eyes rolled back again and again.
Lisa's face was already a blur in his eyes...
What followed was the sound of a blade swishing through the air.
Blood spurted out once again, though it was not a fountain as tall as Baron's.
Black tiger's head dropped onto the ground with a "pa", then it rolled to the side.
... ...
As long as there were the conditions for it during battle, Lisa would always choose to finish off the Huns who were injured and nearing death by decapitating them.
This was because when Lisa was a child, she and Liam had once heard this myth from a traveling salesman: People who die from beheading are never to reincarnate.
Another "pa" sounded.
One of the mountain bandits had given in to his curiosity; he had turned towards them for a look. His legs weakened at once, then he fell limply to the ground.
He looked at Lisa with fear, then he let out a low whimper as his whole body trembled. A warm yellow liquid leaked out between his legs while a stench began to spread.
He had actually been scared to incontinence...
The whimpering went on for a few moments before he fell silent.
At this moment, the canyon was frighteningly silent.
Nineteen mountain bandits stood like two batches of wooden pillars. None of them dared to move, even their breathing was quiet and careful.
Lisa did not take note of any of this. She crouched down slowly, then she pulled up one of black tiger's arms. She cleaned away the blood from her short sword by scraping it against the clean cloth on his arm.
Rays of sunlight cast down. The blade reflected it with a swaying, harrowing white.
Lisa stood back up, then she returned to the side of the donkey carriage, "Jen, sit tight and stay inside, don't look out. We're heading off." She said in a low voice.
Then she pulled the reins to progress slowly towards the valley's exit...
------
Nineteen mountain bandits stood with their weapons in hand. None of them dared to block them.
The nineteen mountain bandits finally 'thawed' once Lisa and Jennie's donkey carriage had completely disappeared in the canyon.
There were some that hollered, some that whimpered, and some that threw away their weapons to run away.
In the end, the nineteen mountain bandits scattered in different directions, but no one cared for Baron and Black tiger.
Yeri and Joy walked down from the mountain slope once everyone was gone.
Once they had a closer look at the disastrous state of this valley, they looked at each other.
They saw a look of horror and disbelief within each other's eyes...
***
Lisa put her short sword away, then she jumped up to the driver's seat. She waved the whip in her hand, then the donkey carriage started to run again.
Lisa stayed silent.
Jennie who sat inside the compartment did not speak either.
... ...
The donkey carriage suddenly stopped after about an hour.
Lisa jumped down from the driver's seat.
"Jen, I'll go wash up for a bit. Just wait for a while."
As Jennie sat prim and properly in the compartment, she sighed a breath so soft that it could not be heard. She could already smell the stench of blood in the air from the moment that Lisa came back.
Jennie lifted up the carriage drapes, then she got down from the donkey carriage.
She found Lisa squatting by a small stream. Her left hand was hanging at her side while her right was slowly splashing water on her face.
Jennie walked closer, then she saw a few lines of red flow down the current of an originally clear stream.
Jennie stood behind Lisa all the while.
Once the stream no longer flowed with any red, she spoke in a soft voice: "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Lisa stayed silent for a while, then answered solemnly: "It's nothing."
"Let me see it?"
Lisa kept her head low. The calm stream was clear enough to be a mirror.
She looked at her slightly wobbling reflection. As she looked on, she suddenly felt that her reflection looked like a stranger.
Lisa remembered that there was a small stream just like this in their village. Even its current was similar, clear and steady.
Back then, Lisa loved to squat by the stream to look at herself with her hair tied in twin buns.
So many years had passed in the blink of an eye.
Lisa felt as if she hadn't looked at herself like this for a very, very long time.
She had gotten tan, and she had gotten big. The features of her face still looked like what it was back then. But then again, it looked different.
Jennie looked at Lisa as she squatted by the water curled into a lump. Lisa looked as still as a boulder, turning a deaf ear to her words.
Jennie felt slightly exasperated. No one had ever dared to ignore her in such a way. However, she simply could not handle this Lisa.
She suddenly realized that Lisa had never been afraid of her.
It was as if an Eldest Princess such as herself had no 'position' to this person at all...
In the end, Jennie simply walked to Lisa's left.
She crouched down slowly, then she turned her head to look at Lisa's left arm that was left hanging at her side.
Just as she had thought; a horizontal wound stretched across it, but it was not as serious as the one left from the last battle against the Huns. But still, this wound was nothing trivial. It was also still trickling blood...
Jennie raised her hand, then her fingers stopped above Lisa's wound: "Does it hurt?"
.
.
.
.
.
Seeing that Lisa was 'ignoring' herself again, Jennie was so mad that she wanted to laugh: This man, I haven't even scolded him for putting me in a dangerous situation yet, but he turned moody and depressed first instead...
"Are you mad?"
"Hmm..."
"Why?" Jennie stared at the side of Lisa's face. She caught a lost and vacant look that flashed across it once she heard her question.
"I killed people..."
Lisa watched the flowing stream in a daze with a frightening emptiness in her eyes. She had not wanted to kill anyone. But in the end, not only did she lose control, she had even used the cruelest method to slay them.
A method that she used against the Huns!
Jennie was somewhat surprised by Lisa's answer.
Although the information that she had of Lisa was not perfect, she was still sure that it was already very detailed.
Jennie still had a general understanding of Lisa's battle 'situation' for the past two years.
Would someone like that actually feel upset because he had 'killed people'?
"Haven't you..."
"That's different. The Huns, they owe me lives. A debt of blood is paid by blood."
"So what do you mean is that, if the mountain bandits had killed me today, and you killed them after that, you would feel better about it?"
Lisa snapped her head around with wide open eyes: "Of course not, how could I possibly let them harm you!"
Once she said that, Lisa met Jennie's eyes that were soft and gentle like water.
She finally understood.
Lisa slowly turned her head back. She fell silent for a good while. Then, she sighed lightly. She sat down by the stream with her legs crossed instead.
"Jen, am I too soft."
"You are."
Hearing Jennie's affirmation, Lisa turned silent again.
Jennie smiled as she continued: "But in the way I see it. You are just inexperienced, but you are also very kind."
Having gotten somewhat tired of crouching, Jennie sat on the ground to hug her knees instead.
Then she continued: "I know your abilities very well. After years of experience being an excellent soldier on the front lines, those mountain bandits could never be your match no matter how valiant they are. But you still tried to resolve it with negotiation. That is your kindness. However, those mountain bandits who bully the weak and fear the strong have tested you, and they have trapped you. But you did not see through any of it. It was a good thing that they were not skilled enough, or both you and I would've been in great danger."
Jennie's words hit the nail on the head.
She looked at Lisa's profile as she said sincerely: "Liam, people's hearts are wretched. To use your own moral compass to measure everyone's words and actions will lead others to take advantage of you. This is especially so for someone who is kind."
"Jen, I'm sorry. I've almost let the mountain bandits harm you..."
"It is a great virtue to acknowledge your mistakes and grow from it. Since I am without injury or harm, you don't need to be so upset over what hasn't really happened."
"...Thank you."
"Liam..."
Jenne opened her mouth, but her mind flashed with what Irene said to her as she knelt in the tent that day. She was somewhat hesitant.
Presently, Lisa was like a blank paper. Whatever Jennie wrote on her, Lisa would show it...
Do I want to raise him into a 'second' me that could scheme and strategize?
Do I really need a pawn to be so 'excellent'?
If this 'pawn' was smart enough to find out that he's a 'pawn' one day, would he be furious?
Would he struggle free from the board, to escape his fate as a chess piece?
=============
Lisa: