Kapitel 26: Close Call

As Mo Xian ushered Wang Jingyuan away hurriedly, Wang Jingyuan could feel the Qingsha senior brother's eyes boring into her back. They walked briskly among the people on the streets, but she still felt like Qingsha Sect wouldn't give up so easily. She snuck a look over her shoulder and thought she saw a flash of teal a short distance behind them.

"I think they're following us," Wang Jingyuan said quietly to Mo Xian. "We have to shake them off."

A horse cart rumbled across the cobblestone street from a side alley. Using it to block the view of whoever was tailing them, Wang Jingyuan pulled Mo Xian down the alley. "Childe Mo, hold on to me," she instructed as she grabbed Mo Xian's wrist. He did the same to hers. One moment they were on the ground; the next, Mo Xian felt himself airborne. In a series of jumps and leaps, Wang Jingyuan and Mo Xian landed on the roof of the tallest building nearby. They hid on the side facing away from the street, lying on their stomachs against the cool roof tiles and peering over the top at the bustling street below.

"Miss Wang, your qing gong [1] is very advanced," Mo Xian remarked. Even with him as deadweight, Wang Jingyuan was able to propel herself up like they weighed nothing.

"Thank you, Childe Mo. To be honest, this is the first time I've tried to take someone with me when using qing gong," Wang Jingyuan admitted as she scanned the street beneath them. She actually learned this skill while she was on the road.

Knowing that Luo Qingye was an accomplished martial artist, Wang Jingyuan had no doubt he knew a lot of cool techniques, including qing gong. Since he gave his internal forces and powers to her, that meant she, too, could perform those techniques. It took about a week to figure out how to utilize her internal force just the right way and to get over her fear of falling from midair. Soon, she was using qing gong to fly across the tree tops when she got bored of walking.

Wang Jingyuan spotted two Qingsha pupils who were looking around wildly on the busy street below them. She nudged Mo Xian. "I told you they were tailing us."

"I never doubted you, Miss Wang." Mo Xian and Wang Jingyuan watched the Qingsha pupils run around like flies without heads for a while before giving up and heading back in the direction they came from.

"Let's head back to the inn before the rest of them come looking for us," Wang Jingyuan said. Mo Xian nodded.

"Shall we go back down to the street?"

"No, we might get spotted again. Let's just travel on the rooftops." Wang Jingyuan carefully stood up. She held out her arm to him, and he obligingly held her wrist again. He was able to encircle her entire wrist, with space to spare, with his fingers, but she could scarcely wrap her hand around his.

"Miss Wang, should I be doing anything while we're travelling to lighten the load?" Mo Xian asked.

Wang Jingyuan tilted her head in thought. "Not really. I guess you could jump up with me every time I do and touch down with me with your legs bent. That way, you won't accidentally break your leg if I land too hard."

"Understood. I'll do my best."

With that, they were off, leaping from building to building and skimming across the rooftops, the only sound being the flap of their clothes in the night wind. No one noticed the pair from the street below.

* * * * *

Shortly after they returned to their own rooms at the inn, a knock sounded outside Wang Jingyuan's room. "May I come in, Miss Wang?" Mo Xian's voice came through.

"Yeah, sure, come in." Wang Jingyuan pulled out a small wooden stool for Mo Xian at the tea table in the center of the room and poured him a cup of tea. Mo Xian closed the bamboo doors behind him as he entered and sat down.

"If the next town wasn't so far away, I would leave Pingkang tonight," Wang Jingyuan sighed. "I didn't know I would run into Qingsha Sect here."

"They were a tough bunch to get rid of," Mo Xian agreed. "I didn't think they would be so rude and insolent."

He paused, as if choosing his next words carefully. Wang Jingyuan sat across from Mo Xian and waited patiently as she blew the steam away from her own cup of tea. She could guess why Mo Xian wanted to talk to her.

"Miss Wang, I think tonight's encounter means it's time we continue our discussion from that night we were camping in the forest," Mo Xian began. "Why is Qingsha Sect after you?"

Wang Jingyuan took a sip of tea. "Childe Mo, how much have you pieced together?"

"I think I've got the basic story. You are a disciple of Luo Qingye, who was 'the martial arts sector's public enemy number one'," Mo Xian quoted the Qingsha pupil's words. "Although Qingsha Sect doesn't know you specifically, they were able to identify you based on your sword, which used to be Luo Qingye's."

"You are very smart, Childe Mo."

"However, I still don't know why Qingsha Sect is hunting you." Mo Xian furrowed his brows. "What did your mentor do to have the entirety of the martial arts sector turn against him? And what does it have to do with you?"

"Honestly, my mentor didn't even do anything wrong." Wang Jingyuan wholeheartedly felt that Luo Qingye had been wronged. "And I definitely didn't do anything bad."

Mo Xian laced his fingers together and looked at Wang Jingyuan inquisitively. "From the looks of it, Qingsha Sect seem to have a deep feud with your sect, or at the very least, your mentor. Did he do something to them?"

"My mentor died because of Qingsha Sect!" Wang Jingyuan exclaimed. "They should count themselves lucky I haven't come after them yet!" She remembered that although Luo Qingye was attacked by five large sects, the fatal blow came from the Eight Trigrams Soul-Extraction Palm—the signature skill of Qingsha Sect. Once she found her senior brother Liu Xiaochen, they will extract revenge.

Mo Xian frowned. Just as he thought, the grievances and feuds within the martial arts sector was a large tangled mess. "If your mentor didn't do anything wrong, then why was everyone after him? Why is it that even after his death, Qingsha Sect doesn't want to let go of the past and is instead coming after you?"

AUTORENGEDANKEN
SkyEmpress

[1] qing gong: literally meaning “light skill”, qing gong is a technique practiced by martial artists to give them control over their body's energy system changing their bodies so that it is lighter. In wuxia fiction, martial artists proficient in qing gong have the ability to move swiftly and lightly at superhuman speed, and perform gravity-defying moves such as gliding on water surfaces, scaling high walls, and mounting trees.

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