章 35: Respite - Waves Beginning.
Silence had settled upon the village of Greengate, the hustle and bustle throughout the day seemed like an illusion compared to the eerie quietness that had laid itself on the area, it was currently a few hours past mid-day and preparation for the coming beast tide had been essentially completed, each and every villager had pushed themselves to finish the surrounding barricades lest they be caught unprepared when the inevitable arrives.
Now, they were taking all the time they got to rest, many men could be seen sitting streetside with their eyes closed, others inside on makeshift beds making for a comfier sleep, a few children could be seen running around before crashing out or inspecting the barricade before being yelled at by someone and scurrying off, smoke could be seen rising from the chimneys of the few larger houses as large batches of stew were being prepared.
In some ways one might say this was a picturesquely peaceful scene, however that couldn't be farther from the truth, no matter who it was, the people sleeping streetside, the women working themselves to the bone or the children 'carefreely' running around, each one of them carried a sense of dread and fear scratching at their minds from the inside.
The barricade was their protector, but at the same time it was their cage, they couldn't leave lest they put themselves directly at risk, today they would either survive or be torn apart inside this circle made to protect them.
…
"…" Shu Li stood on the tallest building watching the horizon, since mid-day he had not moved an inch from this position, he didn't want to risk it; He had the best eyesight here, he needed to be able alert everyone of the tides arrival as soon as possible.
He hasn't slept a wink since the previous day, he was used to staying awake when performing 'stakeouts' or patiently waiting for the perfect shot on some prey but he couldn't say it wasn't taking a toll on him, no matter what he did worry enveloped his heart when he thought about that man.
His eyes that were lined with a hint of dark circles trembled slightly when he anticipated his arrival, he had spent years since his childhood in that gang and Tai Min was the only one he truly feared.
Suddenly his brow furrowed slightly, yet he didn't move or speak, he could hear that behind him two pairs of footsteps were ascending the wooden ladder to where he was, and an older man's voice could be heard rising up.
"… he'll be fine Shu An, just leave him be!"
"Be quiet geezer, you're just taking advantage of him right now!" A voice very familiar to Shu Li rang in his ears causing him to jolt slightly.
"What did you say?!"
"You heard me, geezer!"
Shu Li breathed a sigh as he turned to greet the two that were climbing up.
He watched as his wife, Shu An still wearing her pale pink robe that she wore around the house for chores, pulled herself up and off the ladder before running up to him.
"Shu Li, you look terrible! You need some rest already like the others!" She said with eyes filled with concern.
"An'er… I'm still fine, I need to keep watch so I can't sleep…" He cupped her face in his hands as he stared back at her.
*Cough* "That's right Shu An, we need him to keep a look at out the tide's arrival" Said the old man, Elder Cao who was stood beside them.
Cao Yang was the one who had followed Shu An up; She had overheard him talking with some others about how Shu Li had been the sole watchman for more than a day now and became worried, leading her to rush over.
"It doesn't need to be him, look! He's got rings growing under his eyes he needs to rest" She pointed to Shu Li's face.
Elder Cao took a look at Shu Li's face that had begun to show signs of wear and tiredness, but he shook his head.
"No, he's the best person for the job; He can see it coming the soonest, so we have the most time to prepare".
"He's right An'er, this is what I should be doing…"
"Oh, stop being stubborn, what if you drop asleep when keeping watch or even worse when the attack starts? You won't be able to make any excuses then!"
"That won't happen-" But before Shu Li could continue Shu An walked over and bent over the edge of the building and yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Hey! Someone take over Shu Li's watch!" And within a second there was a reply.
"Got it! I'll be right up!" One of the men dressed in protective gear, one of Gang Bo's mercenaries answered and began heading to the building.
She then turned around with a smug expression plastered on her face.
"There, see? Simple" She spoke.
Shu Li just ended up chuckling while Cao Yang pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache.
"You've been quieter after getting married I always forget you were one of the noisier ones…" He murmured with regret.
With that, the three made their way down as they greeted the replacement who also joked about how long Shu Li had been on watch, wondering if he was human or not.
Shu Li made his way inside the same building, not wanting to go too far away and sat down to rest with Shu An besides him, Cao Yang had gone off once more to check on other things.
"Thanks" Shu Li said as he closed his tired eyes.
"No need to thank your wife silly, it's what I should do; I could tell everything was getting to you".
Her hand overlapped with Shu Li's as they sat together.
A peaceful silenced enveloped them for a minute as they rested their minds before Shu Li spoke once more.
"What's Shu He up to? I haven't seen him" He asked, remembering the explosion he had heard the previous day.
Shu An merely sighed while carrying a helpless grin.
"He barely made it inside before we closed off the barricade, that child of ours never sits still for a second, he really worries me sometimes, I spent hours asking around about him before that and no-one had seen him".
Shu Li chuckled "Sounds like him... He must have got that from you".
"What are you talking about, he's stubborn just like you".
They both looked at each-other frowning before breaking out into small laughter.
"He's currently running around with some boxes and putting them near the barricades, I overheard him talking to some of the others about what was in them, seems to be something he's made to help us" Shu An spoke, recalling the hard working face of her 9 year old son as he ran around like he wasn't a child.
"How reassuring, I thought he might have been working on something, he's never failed to surprise us before so I'm sure it'll be something good."
After a little more chatting Shu An stood up to leave, she turned around to look at her husband whose eyes had closed.
"Get some rest, dear." Gently closing the door, she went back out to continue helping.
…
At the same time, on the roof of the Cao Manor once more the three figures were preparing to leave for their posts.
"It's time then?" Yun Hua asked Bai Shun who was standing while holding a piece of paper inscribed with runes up to his head.
"Yeah, the beast tide has been sighted moving, we need to move now" He placed the talisman back in his pocket as he stretched.
"Alright then, Yun Hua you know what to do right?" Chao Shi asked her.
"Yeah, it should be easy right? At most only a few beasts" She said shrugging her shoulders.
"Haah, did you not listen to what I said before; I have a feeling this tide will be different, be prepared to engage actual enemies" Chao Shi said while tapping her head.
"…Okay, got it" She replied meekly.
"Then, let's go Bai Shun" Chao Shi spoke before rushing off, jumping over the nearby buildings incredibly fast and then speeding off into the distance, Bai Shun also followed shortly after, but before he left he couldn't help but send a slightly worried glance to Yun Hua.
"… What's that about?" She wondered, watching them leave until they disappeared from view.
She then turned to the upper housing district of the village that was now encircled with a barricade and hopped over the buildings and the wooden spikes surrounding them before settling on a large building.
Her job was simple, she just had to protect the women and children in case the barricade failed, and the others died, and this building was where most of them would be during the attack.
'I just need to be careful then, even if they attack here they shouldn't be anything I can't deal with'.
She thought, as she sat cross legged watching the subdued hustle below.
…
It was now a couple of hours until midnight, the attack was predicted for today so most of the men had woken up a small while ago and were all wide awake and on edge, it was now dark with the only forms of light being the flickering torches in the village, the area outside of the encirclement was like a pitch-black maw, vision was terrible which only added to the terror the villagers were feeling.
As they sat and waited, cold sweat began gathering on their backs and some began twitching and breathing heavily.
And quickly, everything was interrupted by one man's voice, it was Shu Li who had taken up his post once more after resting up.
"THEY'RE COMING!"
週次パワーステータス
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