Chapter 13: The Man Without a face
At the other end of the forest, young master Hai was creeping through the thicket, tailing the two mindless men riding in the carriage. The carriage had traveled on for a while, leaving the town of Gu to a small village on the outskirts. Hai Yin stayed low, making his way out of the forest still following behind the carriage. The dark village seemed desolate, with holes in the walls, collapsed roofs and every part of the ground was covered in brown grass. It appeared not a soul had been here in years, if anyone lived here at all they had to be poorer villagers with nowhere else to go.
After following the carriage for quite some time, it finally came to a halt and the two mindless men got out of the carriage. They walked to the back of the carriage and one by one, the mindless men picked up a body, carrying it by their arms and feet. Discreetly, young master Hai leapt on top of a roof, crouching low so that he could have a better view. The mindless men made their way to one of the large run-down shacks, the only one that had a light shining inside and began taking the bodies in.
Watching for a moment, the young master snapped his head to the right as he felt a presence abruptly approaching. Unsheathing Endian in the nick of time with clenched teeth, Hai Yin spun around, swiftly slicing the arrow that had been intended for his head in two. Backflipping off of the roof, the young master landed on the ground, already in position. Right after him, the man in black landed before him, his sword drawn, a quiver on his back as well as his bow. With wide eyes Hai Yin's lips parted, this man was without face!
Cautiously, the young master broadened his stance, extending out his left foot, and bringing his sword to his left side, sheathing it quickly. With his hand hovering above the handle of his sword, Hai Yin eyed the faceless man. Taught by clan leader Hai himself, the young master's stance was designed to draw at the last minute, whether being on the offense or defense, it never failed.
"It is the way of a coward to hide your face, however appropriate for when you are beaten, there will be no face to lose.", said Hai Yin, although a smirk on his face his voice was firm. The man without a face tilted his head to the right, suddenly sprinting toward the young master.
With breakneck speed, Hai Yin drew his sword, the blade pointing downward as he blocked the faceless man's attack, the clink of metal loudly echoing as the swords collided. The faceless man jumped back, coming in for another attack, his sword pointed straight at his opponent. Pivoting to the left, Hai Yin dodged the blade, using the handle of his own blade to hit the man where his face should have been.
The man without a face groaned loudly, jumping back as he cradled his face, but Hai Yin would not allow him to rest. Spinning with a perfectly, graceful, backhanded form, Hai Yin swung Endian, releasing a beam of light from its blade. Caught off guard, the man managed to flip out of the way as the beam of light grazed his body, cutting open a large slit on the left side of his black robe. Holding his side as it bled, the man without a face held up his sword with a shaky arm, he for sure would have been glaring if his face were present.
"Admit defeat, you cannot win!", said young master Hai firmly as he got into position again, his left foot sliding forward as he sheathed his blade. The faceless man panted for a minute; his attention still directed at the young master. If he could've have smirked, the faceless man would have as he quickly sheathed his own sword, forming hand signs with his bloodied hand. Hai Yin's eyes widened momentarily, as he charged toward the man without a face, but when he got there, the man had disappeared.
Drawing Endian, Hai Yin held it out in front of him as he slowly circled around, ready for the face less man to attack at any moment. A cloud of mist suddenly began to form, and Hai Yin was beginning to lose the advantage that he once had. The young master had become completely enveloped by the fog, unable to see anything, only the dimly lit glare of his sword in front of him.
"Hai Yin! Hai Yin help me! Where are you!?" Kang Lei's voice began to call out repeatedly, like he was in distress. The voice echoed over and over along with screams, causing Hai Yin's ears to ring. Still holding out his sword, Hai Yin heard crackling, feeling something lightly scraping against his chest in between his robes. With his free hand, Hai Yin pulled the night flower out from in between his robes, it had darkened into a maroon color and its leaves were crumbling in his hand. With a frightened face, the young master's heart began to race as he quickly placed the night flower back in between his robes. His arm began to tremble as he stood completely discombobulated.
Feeling himself becoming too anxious, Hai Yin closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Standing completely still, the young master sheathed his sword, once again taking in a deep breath, but this time he held it. Getting into his stance, Hai Yin focused his senses, listening to the sounds around him. One by one, he listened to the sound of his of own heart beating out of his chest, the sound of the birds in the distance, and the sound of the wind whistling through the trees. As his heart rate began to slow, he finally heard what he was looking for, the sound of footsteps headed straight for him.
"Three, two, one!", Hai Yin counted down in his head. The young master's eyes snapping open as he got to one, while he simultaneously drew his sword, again with a backhanded swing slicing across the chest of the man without a face.
The man without a face jumped backward, landing with unsteady legs, he dropped to his knees. Pointing at the man with his blade, Hai Yin slowly advanced toward him. "your life can still be saved, but you must first tell me who you are and who you're working for.", said Hai Yin, his brows furrowed and his face stoic. Although the man was without a face, he began to spit up blood from where his mouth should have been.
"Over…my…dead...body!", the man without a face struggled to say with a shaky voice.
"So be it.", said Hai Yin as he raised his blade overhead, but the man without a face quickly grabbed a handful of dirt, throwing it at Hai Yin, causing the young master to close his eyes temporarily. With a successful distraction, holding up his pointer and index finger, the man without a face suddenly burst into a cluster of sparkling lights, vanishing out of thin air.
Quickly sheathing his sword, Hai Yin pulled out a signaler from the sleeves of his robes. When the signaler had gone off, shinning brilliantly in the sky, the young master took off running back in the direction he had come from.
Back in the woods of Gu, Kang Lei was in the midst of battle with the man without a face. Kang Lei angled his sword Juntuan diagonally, blocking the man without a face's attack, their swords making a sharp high pitch noise as the two pushed back on each other's blade with all their might.
"Surely this is not all you have!", said Kang Lei, in a condescending tone, as he raised his leg, kneeing the man without a face in the gut. The man jumped back stirring up quite a bit of dirt as he landed while coughing although he had no mouth.
"Pardon me, did that hurt?", Kang Lei teased, a smirk making its way onto his face as his confidence was through the roof.
Throwing up quick hand signs, the man without a face charged toward Kang Lei and he seemed to split in two! With wide eyes Kang Lei spun around, first dodging to the left, then dodging to the right, the blade of the man without a face just grazing his arm. Looking down at his bleeding arm for a second, Kang Lei furrowed his brows and swung his sword once. A beam of red light flew from Juntuan, toward the faceless man, but he simply jumped up, cartwheeling himself out of the way. When the man landed, Kang Lei's playfully cocky, demeanor had dissipated.
"Not many people have succeeded in injuring me, you will die tonight!", yelled Kang Lei, his face somewhat crazed, as he charged toward the man without a face. Forming those same hand signs, the man without a face once again split in two and charged forward. Kang Lei mercilessly sliced through the first man without a face's figure, it blurring then disappearing. Kang Lei's eyes suddenly grew wide as he realized he was in danger as he spun around to see the second man without a face's blade aiming right toward him. With no time to get out of the way, Kang Lei could only brace for impact as the man without a face's blade would pierce through his chest. Quickly the man without a face dropped his sword, opening his hand and palming Kang Lei in the chest instead, knocking the young master off of his feet, and onto the ground.
"Kang Lei!" Hai Yin yelled as he had succeeded in making his way back to his partner. The man without a face quickly picked up his sword, holding up his pointer and index finger, he disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a chain of sparkles.
"Kang Lei!", Hai Yin called again, as he kneeled down to help Kang Lei sit up. "Are you hurt?", the young master asked anxiously. Rubbing his chest Kang Lei sat up, shaking his head no. The young master had been defeated, and his chest stung a bit, but that was not what was bothering him. Grabbing Kang Lei's arm, Hai Yin helped him stand.
"What did you find?", Kang Lei asked, still rubbing his chest.
Hai Yin glanced at the ground before he spoke, "I followed the carriage to an abandoned rundown village on the outskirts of Gu where a man without a face appeared. I fought with him, but he got away before I could get any information out of him.", he responded.
"Two of them? What of the bodies?", Kang Lei asked eagerly.
"I was unable to see, but I sent out a signal, disciples of the Hai clan should be in route.", said Hai Yin.
Dammit.", Kang Lei whispered under his breath, things had taken an interesting turn.
To get there faster, the two young cultivators flew on their swords, making it back to the rundown village on the outskirts of the town of Gu that Hai Yin had been to. Jumping down off their swords, Hai Yin and Kang Lei sheathed their blades, and walked over to the group of Hai disciples that had just arrived at the village.
"Young master Hai, young master Kang.", the disciples cupped their fist, bowing out of respect and the two young master's nodded back.
"Young Masters.", said another voice, stepping out from behind the Hai disciples, it was Kang Yixing, clan leader Kang's most trusted disciple.
"Xing-ge? What are you doing here?" Kang Lei asked surprised.
"Clan leader Kang has asked me to find you and so I have, I will escort you home.", he responded. Looking at each other for a moment, the two young masters directed their attention back to all the disciples in front of them.
"We came as soon as we saw the sign, but what are we doing here young master Hai?", one of the disciples asked.
"Ah, this way.", said Hai Yin as he led everyone over to the large shack where he had left the carriage, but when he got there to his surprised, it was gone? Staggered beyond belief, Hai Yin ran toward the shack, quickly opening the door, but there was nothing inside, merely a fireplace burning that was on its way out.
"…" Nonplused and confused, Hai Yin said nothing, this is where he had left everything, but where had it gone? Walking past the disciples, Hai Yin left the doorway of the shack, waving his arm with the expectancy of undoing a spell, but it seemed as if there was nothing to undue. Waving his hand again and again, the young master had grown quite frantic.
"Hai Yin?", said Kang Lei with concern, leaning forward to see that something was indeed wrong. Grabbing the young master's wrist, Kang Lei led Hai Yin away from the group of disciples, everyone eyeing them with confusion.
"Hai Yin, where are the bodies?", asked Kang Lei, letting go of Hai Yin's wrist.
Shaking his head, the young master still had a shocked expression, "They're gone, everything is gone. How can this be?"
Kang Lei furrowed his brows, "Hai Yin, can I ask why you left the bodies? Did something else happen?", said Kang Lei.
Calming himself a bit Hai Yin looked up at Kang Lei, the blue-eyed young master was expecting an answer. Quiet for a second, Hai Yin stared at the ground, "I made the mistake of chasing the man without a face back to you before he disappeared.", he lied and Hai Yin never lied.
"I see.", said Kang Lei, as he stared at the ground with a worried expression.
"What is the matter?", Hai Yin asked as he also noticed something was wrong.
Kang Lei sighed heavily before speaking, directing his attention back toward Hai Yin. "Hai Yin, when I met you in Tian, I boldly stated that my clan has not broken the truce, however I am unsure that, that is true."
"What has changed your mind?", said Hai Yin, his brows knitted.
"Ahh it's probably nothing.", said Kang Lei with a smirk, although worry and confusion were swirling in his light-blue eyes.
"I…", Hai Yin began to say, but before he could answer, a voice interrupted him.
"Young master Kang, clan leader Kang is expecting us, we shall not make him wait any longer.", said Kang Yixing. The two young master's turned around to see everyone looking at them, curious as to what they were talking about, all but Kang Yixing, his face somewhat firm, yet stoic.
Nodding, Kang Lei turned to Hai Yin, "Tell clan leader Hai what we discovered, and I will speak with my Father.", he said.
Hai Yin nodded and Kang Lei allowed a full smirk onto his face. Unable to give a smirk in return, Hai Yin simply nodded as did Kang Lei. Leaving Hai Yin to meet Kang Yixing, the two Kang clan members began to make their way home.
"Kang Lei!", Hai Yin called, finally getting the nerve to speak and Kang Lei turned around, walking backwards next to Kang Yixing.
"How should I reach you?", the young master called.
"You already know how to do that young master Hai, I'll be where the night flowers bloom.", said Kang Lei with a full smile, forming small creases in the outer corners of his eyes. Nodding, Kang Lei turned back around, his smile still present. Hai Yin nodded although Kang Lei wouldn't see as he had already turned his back. Reaching in between his robes, Hai Yin pulled out the night flower that Kang Lei had gifted him. To his surprise, the pretty red colored flower was completely unscathed, just as it had been when he left the Sacred Sec of Mount Grace. Sighing heavily, Hai Yin turned around to meet with the Hai clan disciples who were awaiting his orders.
"Let us return home.", the young master spoke, and the group began their journey home, there was much that clan leader Hai needed to know.
As the two Kang clan members walked in silence, Kang Lei glanced behind him to see Hai Yin and the other Hai disciples going another direction. Staring for a while, he finally turned back around, letting out a soft sigh.
"What troubles your mind young master Kang?", said Kang Yixing.
Glancing at Kang Yixing for a moment, Kang Lei stared at the ground as he walked, "Just why are you here anyway? What does my Father really want?", he asked almost as if he was positive it was nothing good. Kang Yixing allowed a smile onto his handsome face, "your Father is simply worried about you is all young master." Kang Lei rolled his eyes at Kang Yixing, surely there had to be another reason.
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