Chapter 119 - Battle Call (M)

M: For Maturity.

...

Song Luli tried to make the most of the daunting days that followed.

She didn't know what Han Ru's plan was, what actions he would take, and according to some of his colleagues, he was nowhere to be seen.

Some say that he took a vacation leave, but Song Luli and Long Jie knew that wasn't the case鈥攈e wouldn't just have fled the country.

Song Luli went to the shooting range to relieve her frustration. She had been practising, but her aim was still not entirely precise.

She was a fool to believe Han Ru would change; she was a fool to think that their plan to save him would work.

"You obliterated the target," Song Luli hear her instructor say through her muffled hearing.

"I know," Song Luli replied, reloading.

"You can't let emotions drive you," he said. "It will make you reckless."

Song Luli paused, turning to face her instructor. "I know. I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. Just focus, young novice."

Song Luli took a deep, chest-rising, breath. She straightened her shoulders, firing again, hitting the target with a clear mind. Each shot sounded like thunder, and she felt the gun recoil in her hand, reverberating her body.

"You're getting better," the instructor told her.

"Thank you," she replied, removing her goggles and the earpieces that cancelled out most of the noise once she finished practice.

Song Luli went home right after, not lingering any longer. She opened the door of her home, not expecting to see Xun Zichen speaking to Long Jie in the foyer of their home.

Song Luli didn't expect his visit, and it's not that she wasn't happy to see him; she wondered why he wasn't with Su Xiang. In all visits, they were always together.

She stepped over slowly, watching as Xun Zichen run a hand through his ink-dark hair, his expression lost, afraid, panicked.

Her heart dropped. And it took an effort to hear, to listen because she was afraid. She's missing, Xun Zichen said.

It was Long Jie that approached her steadily, his expression dismayed. He looked at her with sympathy, offering immediate comfort. He didn't touch her; he looked at her directly in the eyes, instructing her to breathe.

Long Jie began breathing with her, trying to synchronize their heartbeats, slowing down heavy breaths. His warm, pale-blue eyes that she initially believed were icy, like winter, changed鈥攏o, she was wrong. It had always been summer-blue, unthawed,聽full of life.

Song Luli closed her eyes, breathing hard, trying to practice mindfulness.聽It wasn't a direct snap out of it moment; it was her trying to collect herself as best as she could.

"Who?" she asked, her eyes lifting at Xun Zichen. "Who took her."

"Xun Yaozu," he replied.

"Xun Yaozu?" she questioned. Oh, yes. She should have known that Han Ru was his boss. Han Ru was the one who called on Xun Yaozu and the Flock to intimidate them, to give up Long Huojin the last time. But why Su Xiang? She thought.

...

Su Xiang woke up disoriented and聽bewildered.

She didn't remember anything after visiting that market, trying to listen to the rest of that old man's song. All she remembered was smelling something so foul that she blacked out.

She opened her heavy eyelids, squinting. She thrashed immediately at the chains that tore at the skin around her ankles and wrists. She felt like she was at the butcher's shop, the way she was bound.

She gritted her teeth as the cold metal bit into her skin, bruising her immediately.

A man from nearby laughed at her. The phoenix inked on his bald head. She knew that tattoos had to be placed somewhere visible; that way, the organizations could identify their members so quickly. For men, it's traditionally on their chest or back; women had that choice too unless they were uncomfortable with being shirtless during聽initiation.

Su Xiang spat at the bald man. He snarled, grasping her chin, squeezing so tight that it felt like he was digging into her jaw, realigning her teeth.

Su Xiang breathed hard through her nose, and then she moved her chin out his grasp quickly, biting down on his hand. He retreated his grip, but his face didn't twist in pain, it was almost as if he didn't feel anything at all. It made her tremble.

Su Xiang had enough space to move, but it was not like the chains were going to let her escape; it seemed like a leash for a pet, strapped around each one of her wrists and ankles. She thrashed again, the metal clanged against each other and on the ground.

"Stop it, girl," he said. "You're lucky we were instructed not to harm you. It would have been fun to hear your plea for help鈥擨 wonder, what do you sound like?"

"I wouldn't plead or cry in front of the likes of you," she snapped coldly.

His lips curved venomously, he caressed her face, but none too gently. He twirled his hand around her golden locks.聽"So sweet and pretty you are," he said with lowly, like a phantom whisper.

"How long have I got?" he asked another man from behind.

"Five minutes."

"Mhm," replied the bald man. "I could finish in two."

Su Xiang jerked her chains; the man inched closer, trying to take her legs, dragging her towards him.

Su Xiang sat up, quickly wrapping his neck with her chains in an x motion, squeezing him. She kept tightening it so hard that his face was turning red, and his eyes gaped. On her knees, she leaned over his shoulder, just in case he wanted to hit her face with the back of his head. He tried to stop her, but it was no use; he was losing air too fast.

His supposed friends stepped forward, disentangling her from him. One of them slapped her, and she barred her teeth, facing them.

The group then stepped back, and she heard the echo of more people approaching. At the lead was Xun Yaozu.

He looked down at her with a knife-sharp smile. He then asked what happened; one of the members answered for him. He looked at her once more, cocking his gun.

Su Xiang flinched, ready to meet her end; tears fell down her cheeks.

He then shot the bald man; the sound startled her bones.

She shook, slowly lifting her face. Blood pooled around her crouched legs.

"Apologies, Miss Su. I am sorry one of my men tried to assault you. Even a man, such as myself, can't bear to see someone force themselves on others. Not that I care; I just find it pathetic that some people have to use extreme means to get what they want."

Su Xiang didn't reply.

"Now, I will wait for my nephew to come. Hopefully, he has the balls to face me," he said.

"Fuck you," she gritted out.

He smiled again. "So feisty. But, you will watch him die as the blood pools at your feet; you will watch his corpse rot, chained around a pole. And you will die a slow death, watching as the maggots seep into your lover's skin, my sweet lioness."

"Rot in hell," she said.

"I think you shall keep me company. I don't want to challenge my nephew immediately. I want him to break, slowly," Xun Yaozu told her.

"He will be exhausted. Is that fair game? Or are you too far up your own ass that you can't even face鈥?#34;

He slapped the same cheek she was hit earlier, spitting blood through her teeth.

"Sorry," he apologized coldly. "It's rude of me to hit my guests."

"You're crazy!" she responded.

"Perhaps," he said, turning around to leave. The crowd of men then followed.

Exhausted, she succumbed to a shivering sleep not long after. But the rest fell short. She woke up an hour later; a man kept guard at the posts. Someone was leaning against a wall not too far from her, but the man looked familiar. It was the old man from the market.

Her eyes widened in shock. He glanced at the man placed at the foot of the door as his back faced towards them.

She thrashed her chains, and the doorman turned and yelled, "Stop that bitch!"

The old man then said, "I got it."

He approached Su Xiang, making it look as he slapped her, but he slapped his own hand. Su Xiang pretended to be hit. She wasn't sure what the old man was trying to do.

He then crouched down in front of her, cursing at her, but in between, he mumbled, "is it true that Xun Yaozu has a nephew?"

Su Xiang glanced at the silhouette of the man watching the door. She then nodded at the old man.

"Where is he?"

Su Xiang didn't reply.

"I am on your side," he said. "I want to help you."

"Why?" she whispered.

"It's time to get a new leader."

"If you get caught," Su Xiang began, "you'll be executed."

The old man shrugged. "I lived long enough," he said. "I will tell him or your friends. Whoever that will try to come get you."

She then gave an address.

"I will do what I can," said the old man. "Be steady; do not let them break you."

Su Xiang nodded. The old man left, and someone else came into replace him. He slipped from the man guarding the door, creeping from the shadows.

Su Xiang sighed. "What do you want, Han Ru?"