No sooner had Meili let her horse fly, than the men who had been watching her closely, sped towards her on their horses, closing the gap fast.
It took her some time to realize they were bearing down on her, but when she did, she immediately swung to the right and gave her horse a sharp kick to it's side to bring up the speed as she raced to the edge and straight back out onto the path.
No sooner had she emerged from the dense forest, than all 6 men emerged in front of her, completely surrounding her. Before she could do anything, one had already taken hold of her horses reigns and with a smirk followed by laughter from his friends, they began to lead her back into the forest.
"Pretty little thing ain't ya?" one them grinned at her through his filthy stained teeth as he ran his fat fingers though her hair.
"Don't even think about screaming." another one sneered at her, as they all began to laugh again.
Suddenly the memories of her past and the reason why her brother had insisted she hid behind the mud he would plaster on her face to keep her features hidden from view, came back to her. The days of fear that she had thought were finally behind her, suddenly came back with a vengeance as they led her off the main path and deeper into the forest. Knowing that begging would only increase their laughter, and attempting to run would infuriate them, her eyes began to darken.
And as they led her into the darkest part of the forest where no one would hear her, suddenly an inner fire began to ignite deep within her belly, a fire born from those long fearful miserable years that she no longer wanted to return to. Without thought or warning, the pure hatred that the multitude of men from her past who had caused their miserable existence erupted from every pore of body as her raging fury began to overwhelm her.
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By the time Jie and Ai returned, they found Tai on the path at the bottom of the hill pacing furiously, his face dark with worry, the horses saddled and ready to leave.
"She's been gone for almost 3 hours." he stormed, close to tears. And having already prepared his horse to leave when they arrived, Jie and Ai, suddenly felt their blood run cold. It wasn't like Meili to disappear for so long, not when she rarely left the house alone, and when she did, she always came back within an hour. To be gone this long, had them all worried.
"There is only one place she could have gone, blackberries only grow in one part of the forest." Ai informed them, as Tai quickly mounted his horse, and Ai quickly mounted her own as Jie turned his around , and without another word, they sped towards the forest.
No sooner had they arrived, than Tai instantly jumped from his horse to scout the land. Pointing down at the rough dirt, he drew their attention to the hoof prints, including the horse that Meili was riding, its hoof prints clearly discernible by the shoes that he himself had made for it. "There's 6 of them." he said suddenly near tears, as he once again mounted his horse and immediately took off into the forest after them, ignoring Jies warning to pull back.
"Damn that boy." he muttered under his breath, as they both took off after him, and as he raced to get his horse ahead of him, Ai flew past the both of them.
"Ai!" Jie roared after. Kicking the side of his horse hard, giving his horse its head without a thought for his own safety as the trees flew past him at great speed, Jie reached out for her reins, but she swerved to avoid him, causing his anger to flare immediately.
But no sooner had the thought of dealing with her disobedience, than Meili suddenly came into view. Pulling in the reins hard, his horse reared up as he came to an immediate halt, causing the dirt and dead leaves below him to fly about them as Ai and Tai arrived seconds later.
But if they thought they were there to save their little girl, they couldn't have been more wrong, as they watched her tiny body fly up into the air and spin quickly into a leap that seemed to defy gravity, and before they could even comprehend the girls astounding agility, her feet immediately split in mid spin, her feet smashing into the faces of two of her assailants.
"Meili." Tai whispered as he stood stock still taking in the most incredible scene he had ever witnessed, as Jie too watched on in stunned amazement as her flying body brought down her elbows straight into the throat of one of the fallen who had dared to rise.
But to Tai, it wasn't her fighting skills that had him shocked, but the dark black coldness of her eyes, the hatred flaring from them brought him to tears, and as his whole body shook at what these men had brought out in her, his heart broke into a thousand pieces as he watched the rage in her fully unleash.
Falling gracefully, she instantly flew back into the air as one of them who had drawn a sword slashed it out towards her. No sooner had the sword passed below her feet, than they at once kicked it out of his hand and up into the air where she deftly caught it mid air, and promptly brought it down with such force, it tore through his neck almost decapitating him. No sooner had he hit the ground, than she whipped the sword sideways slicing straight through the face of another who had come in from behind and thrown his hulking frame towards her before sending him screaming backwards as an upwards thrust of her foot caught his chin, throwing him into a nearby tree.
All six men now lay at her feet and as she fell to her knees shaking, the tears came as a harsh guttural sound so animalistic tore through her throat, It was raw and ugly, and as every ounce of strength left her small body, she threw her head back and screamed. It was a scream of pure fear.
Falling to his knees Tai held his head tightly to block out the sound as he tried desperately to hold his own screams in. Squeezing his eyes shut, he fell face forward into the dirt and dead leaves shaking as both Ai and Jie ran towards Meili.
But no sooner did Jie reach down to pull her up, than the sword she was still holding flew across the top of her head into his arm as her angry raging fire instantly ignited. Unable to see either of them through the tears she once again flew up and swung the sword as Ai screamed at her to stop, kicking the sword out of her hands and gathering her small body quickly into her arms.
"Meili. Look at me!" she cried down at the little girl who was screaming and struggling madly against her, lost to the hatred and anger that had completely taken over her mind. "MEILI."
But she heard nothing, the roaring in her head drowned out everything, but when Jie tried to talk to her, she completely lost it. In one swift move, she dove for the sword and flew towards them kicking out wildly, sending Ai flying backwards as she turned her fury on Jie. "You like what you see?" she asked smirking up raising her sword directly at him. "Come and get it bastard." she screamed as she flew into the air.
Spinning, her feet flew at his head as she brought the sword down, barely missing his face as he quickly ducked and rolled beneath her. "Meili." he yelled at her as she landed safely, only to once again fly at him with a roundhouse kick to the side of his knee, seeking to take his legs out from under him, but that too he blocked.
Trying desperately to only block her hits and strikes without hurting her, he hoped to tire her out enough to bring her under control, but the adrenaline was pumping through her veins, and he could do nothing but block her, not wanting to risk touching her for fear of setting off her already crazed mind.
But he was not prepared for the anger or the hatred, as the child unleashed a full round of martial arts moves that had him shocked, that even while he was blocking every single strike, his mind couldn't help but wonder where she had learned such skills, they were advanced moves, not taught to children, not even in the Immortal Realm. He should know, the moves she had suddenly unleashed were a specific set of moves, a routine that he himself had devised as a form of self defense for females only. That this child knew them, could only mean one thing. Her teacher was not a Mortal.
And it was while she was in mid air that the full force of her fury unraveled, as her spinning body, flying feet and swirling sword was fully unleashed upon him.
"MEILI NO!" Ai screamed as she raced forward. Jumping into the air, she immediately flew into a flying spin, kicking the sword out of her hand while snatching the girl mid air into a tight embrace, their spinning bodies landing safely in front of Jie, who was not only ready to block her next hit, but was left in shock at his wifes obvious skills that was suddenly and without warning demonstrated before his very eyes. And before he could utter a single word, he watched as his wife hit a pressure point behind the back of her head, knocking the child out.
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No sooner had they settled both children into their beds with a heavy sleeping tonic than Jie took Ai by the hand and led her into the main room to talk. But she was in no mood for talking.
"Jie, can't we leave it for tonight. I am tired." she said brusquely, snatching her hand back to turn towards their own room.
Snatching back her hand, he swung her roughly around to face him. "No Ai. We are going to talk right now." he said severely, forcing her into the main room and slamming the door behind him.
Facing each other, Jie immediately launched into questioning her abilities. "Where did you learn those moves Ai?" he asked slowly and deliberately, purposely keeping his tone low, but she clearly read the anger beneath it. "Meili could not have learned them from anyone else but you." he added, his eyes on her face the whole time, looking for the slightest hint of a lie.
Jie wasn't the only one who was thinking deeply about the days events. Ai too was wondering how he knew about the moves, which he obviously did. He would have to know them, to be able to block every hit and strike, they were not random moves but a routine, one she now knew that he also knew. And there was only two men that she knew of that knew that routine. Her brother and the man who invented it.
But the thought that he was Mo Yuan, was immediately thrown out of her head. He was Mortal, and never once in all the years they had known each other had he ever shown that he was anything but Mortal. She would have picked up on it immediately, but there had been nothing to show that he was Immortal or Mo Yuan. But how did he know the routine? She could not ask without giving away her own identity.
"My brother taught me Jie." she finally answered him, and she wasn't lying, because he had taught it to her, though where he learned it she had no idea, but when it came to fighting skills and strategy, her brother had his ways of learning all there was to know about all kinds of fighting skills, male or female, though he had only taught her the first half of the routine, it was all he himself had been given.
Her brother again, he thought to himself. Suddenly he wanted to meet him. "I would like to meet your brother Ai. I have not met any of your family. Why is that?" he asked suddenly throwing her, her eyes raising in alarm which he immediately noticed before she quickly tried to hide it.
Impossible, she thought to herself. But as her mind went back to how he could know about the routine, she purposely turned the conversation back towards him. "What's the matter Jie?" she asked smirking at him. "Do I frighten you?" she scoffed up at him as she moved closer to him, her whole demeanor suddenly changing before his eyes.
Suddenly the challenging look he had never seen in his wifes eyes before, reminded him of someone else. Could she be? He wondered to himself. Short of opening his powers, he had no real way of knowing.
"Why would you teach her that Ai?" he asked, knowing now that she was the one who had, and strongly suspecting she was not who he thought she was, not at all missing the fact that she had changed the subject.
Closing the gap between them, Ai stood directly in front of him. "If I hadn't, we would not have made it in time Jie. If I hadn't she would be dead now." she whispered up at him, but the mocking undertone did not go unnoticed.
"Why that routine Ai? She killed 6 men today, deaths she will now have to live with for the rest of her life!" he yelled down at her, his temper now rising at the mocking grin she was giving him, an attitude she had never shown before now.
Suddenly Ai too lost her temper. "Don't you dare yell at me Jie." she screamed up at him, as her whole body shook. "And how the hell do you know about that routine huh? It's for females only." she continued to scream up at him. And with those words, something in his mind shifted.
Then pushing him back, she continued to storm at him. "Would you rather she remained meek and demure Jie? Would you rather she be weak and easily manipulated? So what if she killed them, it was them or her." then scoffing at him as he looked down at this woman he no longer knew, she laughed at him.
"Or is that the kind of woman you think I am Jie? Is that the kind of woman who turns you on?" she mocked him even louder as she watched his eyes suddenly darken.
Walking slowly towards her, his mind now fully focused on the woman in front of him, Jie roughly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a tight embrace. "No, you are not are you. Ai!." he sneered down at her. "You are much more than what you have led me to believe." he added, his sneer growing at the sudden fear that flitted across her brow.
Then grabbing her chin roughly, he forced her head back sharply as his head came down and took her quivering lips harshly.