Capítulo 13: When the Embers Die
Ruan Shanqiao watched as the red embers disappeared into the darkness under her foot. She blinked a couple times as her once clear eyes became muddled with confusion.
"Why am I extinguishing the flames?" she sighed.
She crouched down and poked at the embers to try to revive the fire, but it was already too late.
Up in the trees, Han Ruoxi smoothed out her frown and calmed her nerves. She had been on edge since Shanqiao seemingly spiraled out of control under her. She watched as the girl frowned in frustration at the ashes in the dark. She seemed to have returned to normal; Ruoxi let out a sigh of relief.
"Miss," Yiyi crawled to a position behind Ruoxi. "If you're worried about Miss Ruan, wouldn't it be better to just confront her?"
"Oh?"
Yiyi looked up in expectation.
"Why should I?" Ruoxi smiled brightly at her.
"Miss, it's too bright," the servant covered her eyes and squinted. "Please withdraw your smile."
"That's the way to be!" she smiled even brighter and patted the servant softly on the head. "Now, let's see what this Ruan Clan's daughter will do."
Shanqiao sighed. She was most definitely not going to be falling asleep tonight.
The night was beautiful as the moon hung low and the stars far far away sparkled in the sky. If her older brother had been with her, he would have told her…
"The legends say that star situated closest to the moon fell away from the moon when the bunny on the moon accidentally grazed the side of the moon during its hops…" she whispered into the dark sky.
She shook her head, as if to clear it. Perhaps she would start moving towards the Huangshan mountains once more.
She gathered her belongings and threw dirt over her array, effectively erasing it, before she started walking once more. It may have been wise to use the Ninth Cloud Transcending Steps, but she felt too drained of her energy to make it happen.
The forest around her was dark and quiet as Ruan Shanqiao walked along the dirt roads. She had walked nearly two hours, but her footsteps were still light and easy. The Ninth Cloud Transcending Steps was not only a method of increasing one's speed through arrays, but also trained the user's muscles to tread lightly normally.
Additionally, anyone could see clearly that her mind had wandered off. If she had been in her right mind, she would have known that an entire pack of wolves had been stalking her for the last good two cun. Of course, she was not, so it had taken her an entire two cun to realize the dark figures trailing behind her.
"Hun," her eyes shifted and her mouth lifted into a sly smile.
Han Ruoxi had been following from above when she saw Ruan Shanqiao stop. Her heart stopped with Shanqiao as she watched the wolves creep towards her.
'You're supposed to run away, not stop!' she yelled inside of her head. She opened her mouth to warn the girl…
The yells never left her mouth. Before she could say anything, a wolf had already jumped into the air towards Shanqiao.
She watched helplessly as the wolf's jaw snapped and its claws lashed out. Soon, the sight of her corpse was surrounded by the wolves.
"No!" she rushed down and kicked the wolves away, effectively killing them.
However, when she looked down at the ground, she didn't see even a speck of blood.
"Huhuhu," someone chuckled merrily behind her. "So it was you, Han Family's young miss."
Ruoxi turned around and fell onto the ground, weeping. "Oh dear Jade Emperor, I thought you were dead!!!" she wailed.
Ruan Shanqiao looked at Ruoxi amusedly as she flicked the girl's forehead. "Why are you weeping? It wouldn't be a horrible tragedy if I died."
"No, it would be!" she sniffed. She grabbed the other's hands and fervently said, "You must live! You must live longer than others and never die…"
"Huhuhu, why?" Shanqiao merely laughed.
"If you die, all hope for the Ruan Clan is lost. The continent would be thrown into chaos!"
"... If I'm alive, it will still be thrown into chaos," she blinked. "I'm only ten. I can't possibly understand politics and make the correct decisions in this harsh world of adults."
"No, but your survival will at least prevent the involvement of the Shadow Palace!"
"The Shadow Palace?" Ruan Shanqiao considered it. She had heard about the Shadow Palace a couple times from her father. It was basically a mercenary guild and an assassin guild. Her older brother had mentioned their ongoing dealings with them.
"Oh."
"That's your only reaction?" Ruoxi deadpanned.
"Thank you for the blessings," Shanqiao added as an afterthought.
"Ah, no problem," Ruoxi quickly forgot the insulting lack of reaction and smiled widely.
"By the way, why were you following me?"
"...." Ruoxi blinked a couple times before her servant Yiyi finally approached.
"Miss, I think it is wise to tell the truth."
"Because I felt you didn't trust me enough," she replied straightforwardly.
"Enough to?"
"Er… I made a Blood Pact with you…" Ruoxi looked away evasively.
"A Blood Pact?"
"Yes, it's a form of alliance, but if either of us betray the other, apparently the offender's blood corrodes till they make amends."
"Ah, that sounds ominous."
"..."
"..."
"You made that pact with me?"
"Yes, it was a declaration of my support for your cause in return for your support in my cause."
"Okay."
"Hmm?" Ruoxi looked up at Shanqiao as the latter started to stand up. "You're not going to say anything about it?"
"It doesn't seem all that bad. A favor for a favor, right?" she smiled.
"Hahaha!" Ruoxi laughed.
"By the way, what should we do about these wolves?"
The three girls looked at the pile of wolf caracasses. It wasn't entirely gruesome as they had all died from internal injuries.
"Well, we could roast them…"
***
Yiyi crouched next to the fire next to Shanqiao and her young miss as the wolf meat slowly cooked.
"Yiyi, you're drooling," Ruoxi tapped her chin.
"Ah, excuse me." the servant girl hastily swiped away the drool on her face.
"It's okay," Shanqiao said indifferently as she focused on roasting the wolf meat to perfection. "I think I have a talent in roasting meat."
Gulp. "You do indeed, miss," Yiyi said entranced by the aroma.
"I did fail in roasting the deer the other day though."
"You were in too much of a hurry…" Ruoxi critiqued absentmindedly. "The fire was too strong."
"Ah…"
The three of them waited till the meat was cooked perfectly.
"Let's eat!"
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