A Wuxia Tale: Blades and Flowers

Endless Night pt2

(AHRAN)

I scrambled in the rain. I almost cannot see whats around me. All I know is that I have to run or else Wang Hua will kill me. I cannot let her kill me. Not until I make everything right.

I pushed myself to run across the hard stone floor of the Palace ground. There are no arrows flying around me, that means Wang Hua didn't have her bow and arrows with her. I am not sure yet if that is good news or bad news for me. Its not like fighting Wang Hua in a hand to hand combat will give me an advantage. She is a Wang, strong...all of them.

My plan is to get to the West garden where the prayer temple is near. Adda is there as well. I want to be near Adda while running for my life. From there, I might get some respite and time to think of a way to get to Master Yong and ShuYin's other brother, ZhouLin. Master Yong is the answer to all of these. He'll help me make all of these right.

But before I can enter the garden that would lead me to the prayer temple, a strong force collided on me. It took Wang Hua almost half an hour to catch up to me. She's fast but not as fast as her brother.

She's strong though. I felt the air on my lungs expelled when she tackled me to the ground and pin me to it by sitting on my chest. I think something broke, probably my hip, but I had no time to worry about that because through the rain falling on us, I saw Hua's silhouette with her hand in the air, a wicked blade twinkling in her hand. The blade is something she wants to use to stab me.

"ITS NOT ME!" I shouted. "ITS NOT ME, WANG HUA!"

I want to tell her that its not me. I didn't give away the location of the children to Han and ShuYin. I just know what happened. When ShuYin failed to produce a son, the whole kingdom turned anxious. Grand Prince Guo also has no son. All the sons with royal blood came to Grand Prince Jin and his wife, Wang Hua.

From there, suspicions started. Tension arises. Pressures on all front came down to Emperor Han and Empress ShuYin to try and have a son again. But ShuYin's body won't produce a dragon. She can't. And when turmoil escalated, the royal brothers split. With Han and Guo standing firm to keep the throne while Grand Prince Jin chose his sons to live and go up against with his brothers. With the Wang clan behind him, Grand Prince Jin was favored to win without too much blood being spilt but in a one tragic moment, everything fell. The deaths of Grand Prince Jin's sons and Wang Dao's daughters was the catalyst that prompted the First Born Prince of Emperor Shen and the Wangs to burn it all to the ground.

But I know that Han and ShuYin didn't kill the children. Its a different person who did it.

"Its Dao. He killed them all," I said as sadnesss for what my husband did finally registered in my heart. "Dao killed everyone..."

"I know."

Time stopped for me when Hua said that. Then I felt something warm dropped on my face together with the rain.

Tears. Her tears. I may not see her face, but I know Hua is crying.

"I know my brother did it," she lowered her blade and leaned down so I can hear her more clearly. "I know for awhile now." She sniffed. "He killed them all for you."

"What?"

Hua sobbed against my cheek. "QiLong. Lei. LuHan. Yue. Sying. Guo. Manchu. Han. ShuYin. He killed them all. For you..." Hua sat up again. "And now, I watch my husband die because of guilt. Jin's life has been in hell since taking the throne from his brothers. Since killing his siblings and friends."

"Master Yong is not..."

"Jin is in hell now," Hua is not listening to me. "Join him first and then I will see you both there." She said before holding the blade's handle with both hands to strike me down with it.