Chapter 34: Winning Without Fighting

Gently, Wu Ling reached out to wrap his arms around Su Xiang, pulling her into a tender embrace without putting pressure on her wounded ribs. Holding her trembling figure he once again felt that she'd been dipped in a dozen colors of painted-on emotions that didn't suit her at all. Fear, anxiety, desperation, and the fading aura of fatal determination. She'd pushed well beyond her limits to fight a Soldier, even one that had been weakened by the spores of his Giant Purple Spore Shroom.

"Hey," he whispered gently into her ear, his uninjured hand stroking her hair gently. "Congratulations on your breakthrough," he said, hoping the news would snap her out of the cloud of toxic feelings that clung to her like rapidly drying paint.

"Breakthrough? What?" Su Xiang asked, her sapphire eyes blinking at him in confusion.