Jingting was hurrying down the mountain, led by Binbin. He was scared, for his life, for the lives of his disciples and friends. Especially when he heard from Binbin that there were two imperial soldiers down the mountain. Right by the path up to their sanctuary. Somehow, they managed to dodge all the traps set around in the forest to deter unwanted quests.
It was so close that they were there in a matter of a few water drops. But what Jingting found there wasn't the bloody interaction he thought he would find, but… Well, it was bloody but for a different reason than he thought.
Deep in a hole in the ground, two imperial soldiers were sitting just like that. Xuhua was pacing around the hole, spewing out the vilest things he had ever heard her say. But he noticed that one of the soldiers looked more in awe than pissed, like the other.
"I can't believe you are so stupid. Falling for it like this. Really? You lost your brain in a battle? Or do they take only idiots in the army? Why would you follow me? Did you think that I was a weak village girl you could do whatever you want to to? Or were you simply out of your mind, not thinking at all? I swear to heaven, your mother must be so ashamed she gave birth to you. The hours in labour shouldn't be awarded by imbeciles like you two…" She continued sentence after sentence without stopping.
But she actually had a bemused expression on her face. Once Jingting appeared beside her, she calmed down, shut up, and let Jingting ask his questions.
"What happened?" he asked her. She walked to him and whispered in his ear, so the two idiots, as she called them, couldn't hear her.
"They started talking to me, so I panicked and ran to the mark. Once they followed me, they weren't paying attention and fell." Jingting patted her head and smiled at her. At the same time, with a swishing sound, he folded the fan he managed to grab on his way here and walked to the edge, looking down.
What he saw made his heart stop beating. When he focused on the armor they wore, one of the soldiers had completely the same armor as Baihua. The other was obviously less rich, so his wasn't as fancy and had no tiger on his chest. But the second thing that was even worse was the person's resemblance to his sleeping patient.
"Are you going to fight?" he asked, believing they were here for a reason.
"No, we are just trying to find my brother. He was injured, and someone nice took him in and healed him. We didn't know who it was, but the town the letter came from was near, so we wanted to try our luck…" The richer one answered, and Jingting was surprised at his truthfulness. It was unusual. Yet, familiar.
"What's your name?" he asked, waiting for the catch. While waiting for the answer, he turned to Xuhua and frowned at her. She finally regained her courage and wanted to say something again. Probably about the letter. But it definitely was a trap. There was no way of knowing the letter was from the border town. If so, there would be more than two soldiers.
"Baimeng," he said, and the other was, again, quiet. Jingting raised his brow and waited.
"Bai as in white and meng as in sprout." Jingting couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed. His aloof face just cracked at the nicknames of two idiots he managed to find. One was a white flower and the other a white sprout? Were they completely stupid?
"Throw out all of your weapons, we will get you out," he said, still chuckling, and went to Binbin.
"Put a blindfold on them, walk them around the forest for a while before taking them up to the mountain. I'm going to prepare Xicheng for more warriors. Oh, and let Xuhua take care of them. One has a broken wrist from the fall, so let her take a look before you walk them around. If they have wounded legs, just call for horses." Binbin nodded, and Jingting walked back up to the sanctuary.
It was actually a valley that was made up on the mountain peak. Big enough for a big mansion and multiple houses. His father took his disciples once they were fleeing the Capital, and they settled here. Building everything with their own hands. Yet used to the comfort of the Capital, they later renovated once their children grew.
Jingting finally climbed up, which took him far longer than going down and made him breathe like a blacksmith's bellows. Even though he was used to exercising and climbing up the mountain a lot, the lack of rest these past few days and stress made him let out many whooshes-hisses of his lungs working overtime.
"Oh, Xicheng…" he said once he saw his disciple-brother, but once again, he couldn't speak and huffed.
"Wow, you were running up or what? Maybe you should practice more martial arts. It looks like you were holstered up in the room for too lo-..." Before Xicheng could even finish his sentence, Jingting had turned around in a circle, throwing his hands apart, his sleeves flowing in the air, while quickly opening his fan and ending the quick circle in an elegant pose with the sharp, toothy edge of the plated fan on Xicheng's throat. He was afraid to even swallow just to not get cut by the sharp, toothy edge of the plated fan.
"Who were you talking about?" Jingting asked, and Xicheng was still frozen. He was threatening now, but he could do one of his moves, just because he finally caught his breath while Xicheng was talking.
"Binbin and Xuhua will bring two more soldiers here. Don't try to lash out. Don't try me. Today, I didn't sleep enough. I was pissed by you in the morning. And then I had to climb back up by myself… I don't want to listen to your grumbling. Get over it. Get over the past and look for your future. Once they are here, if you are so grumpy, just hide yourself away. They won't betray us, and if so, I will protect you all. Don't forget you are no match for my martial arts, even though I'm holed up in the healing room all day." He snapped his fan and let Xicheng breathe.
"I mean it, Xicheng. I'm tired. Too tired from carrying this mountain on my shoulders. Yesterday, Xuhua and you came running with whatever minor tasks you could think of just to keep me away from going to Baihua. But do you understand that he is my patient? I brought him back to life!" He was too tired. The short nap he had while with Baihua was nothing, so he just walked away. Without saying more. Leaving Xicheng to stand there looking guilty and stunned at the same time.
He passed Baihua's room, pausing for a while, but he continued back to his own room. There was no need for him there. He was risking it all, hoping this guy wouldn't destroy him.
But maybe this decision was the one that would destroy him in the end… Maybe…