"13 birds flew through the sky,
14 arrows wanted them to die.
13 men when home with strife
1 wife made fowl with rice
12 birds went home to feed
Their young, chirping, full of greed" - Lin Si, 16, sung, to a child on the roadside
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It was raining. Li Junli looked helplessly, hopelessly, listless outside, as he sat at his breakfast, untouched since early morning, till now, almost noon. Li Junlong wasn't sure what to do. His brother was always happy, always smiling, he had never had to comfort him, what was this? Why was he in this situation? He just rescued him but…he remembered the times with Lin Si. It was true that she was incredibly persuasive, easy to like, easy to trust. It was his own fault for letting them be alone together so much. She had convinced his brother to eat poisons. A doctor had come by, and identified as many as three poisons in his body, luckily in balance enough they weren't causing any real injuries, but the slightest wrong dosage of pill, and he could fall into worse repair than he had been. Li Junlong looked at this eating, his hands no longer shook when holding a spoon, but they also no longer lifted the spoon to try to eat. His eyes had stopped dilating and wandering randomly, but instead, moved not at all. Was it sickness? Or heartbreak?
An alchemist finally showed up. Several alchemists and martial artists had come for the arena fights, he was suddenly rather thankful to Long Wen for starting it, so that he could call someone here so quickly, to take a look at his brother, but after examining him, denied an ability to do anything. "I only know one man who might have the chance of curing your brother of these three poisons, and it is Lin Weiming, or perhaps his son, Lin Haoran."
He nodded. But he didn't trust the Lin family. Plus, now that he either killed, or at least gravely injured their second daughter, there was no way they would help him.
"You are wrong, I'm not poisoned," insisted Li Junli. "She was curing me!"
Li Junlong shook his head. "Didi, listen, she never meant anything good for us, alright, listen to the physicians and the alchemists, they know better than we do." He was worried for his brother, not only did he believe he had been getting cured by Lin Si, but he also believed she had broken into the demonic city and brought back the lihuo flower. But he didn't believe it. She was too weak, especially that last time he'd fought her, he'd broken through her defenses without issue, there was no way she'd be able to take on the demon lord, much less both him and the White Hare, with how fast he had seen him move back in Ruifeng City. And even If she had, wouldn't there be news? And yet Heixuan hadn't even drawn back their forces from the overworld, and had made no announcements or death threats to Lin Si. They only had the death warrant for the tattered demon increased by a substantial amount, and allowed takers to bring him in dead as well.
"Didi, trust brother, Lin Si was an evil woman, try to forget her."
Li Junli knocked over his porridge, scattering it across the table, he was still weak, his attack on the bowl looked rather pathetic, but he had less headaches than before despite his skin being even more sickly colored and his eyes still sunken due to the resulting poisons still in his body. "You're such an idiot, why didn't you trust her? Why can't you?"
Li Junlong sighed. His brother hadn't eaten since he drove Lin Si away, and now that he'd finally gotten him to at least sit down and try, he had angered him so much he had stopped. He glanced at his brother's thin wrists, worriedly. He was getting more emaciated by the day.
The hunger was so strong, from having eaten barely a thing the previous couple days, it made his hands shake again, the moment he touched food it got worse, but the disgust at his brother for what he'd done, at the loss of Lin Si, who'd dared to take on the whole of the demonic city for him, he couldn't bare to eat anymore. He just couldn't. His stomach revolted. The food felt like ash to his mouth, his stomach ready to hurl anything that entered. The rain kept a steady pattern on the roof, the same rain that fell, and didn't stop until she had returned to him. Was she still alive? Would she return again? He glanced over at a candle, still lit due to the dimness of the sky. He didn't hate light anymore. He felt his brother rub his shaking hands again gently, speaking soft words.
He wanted to cry.
+++
Li Junlong rose early again, he'd stopped entertaining duels, preferring to tend to his brother and make plans for the future. Afraid of assassins at any moment.
Leaving his room to help his brother into his clothes, helping him up and placing his arms into every sleeve. Although his hair had begun to grow over the bald patches, his skin had turned an even paler color, so translucent Li Junlong could see every being and artery. Li Junli didn't look at him as he worked, glancing at the ground, while Li Junlong wrapped the clothing around him, and as he tied his sash, finally gripped his brother's hand. "Gege, she's innocent."
Li Junlong didn't shake off his hand, just grunting in understanding and lifting him up to place him on the wheeled chair. He had modified it to place all the wheels as smaller, so that his brother could stop moving around on his own, after his brother had made several attempts to escape in the night. Li Junlong knelt down, tidying him in the chair. "Didi, it's okay, we were all lied to, we'll get through this."
Li Junli still refused to look at him. Li Junlong wasn't overly worried, since his brother often threw temper tantrums when younger only, this time it was lasting particularly long, almost a month now. Well, in time he would see. In time.
He pushed his brother out, bringing him to eat his meal. He had easy to swallow foods. His brother had completely stopped eating, after a week since he'd chased her off. He hadn't found her body, so he assumed she'd survived. Shame. He now had to force feed his brother. His brother, after struggling for several days, eventually got so weak it was pointless. He was so lifeless now, his skin so cold he was like a corpse. His eyes were only getting more sunken, even though his lashes continued to lengthen. It was a strange sight. Recently, after taking a pill from an alchemist, he'd begun to fall under chills. Apparently it had unbalanced the poisons in his body, and his blood often ran darker now. Li Junlong had directly thrown out the alchemist, after breaking both his wrists.
Now, he constantly fussed over his brother. He didn't even dare to leave to hunt anymore. His nerves were constantly on tight strings. He'd waited for the demonic cult to contact him for the deal. They'd finally sent word that they would come see him soon. As for the movements of the Xu family, other than going to the capital to meet with the Lin family head and the emperor, nothing could be heard from them from Long Wen's news sources.
After force-feeding his brother and being asked to leave him alone to read in his room, he went out to practice his martial arts in the yard. Suddenly he felt a presence nearby and a slight lavender scent blew over, curling around his nose.
"You're here." he greeted, halting his practice, to grab a towel to wipe the sweat from his strong neck, calmly "Daring to come directly into my home, do you not fear my blade?"
"I had thought we would be working together, it seems hospitality isn't provided."
"I had thought you were going to send White Hare here, it seems respect isn't provided."
"I am much better at these things." a woman stepped out from behind the tree behind him, a fan in her hand, she was clothed in purples and whites, and had the presence of a crane, yet her eyes, painted with red and purple around them glistened with clever wisdom. The third strongest in the demonic cult, and the director of foreign affairs, nicknamed, the 'caller of death.'
"It seems the demonic cult doesn't put a lot of weight on this deal."
"The demonic empire has indeed put a lot of thought and desires to work with you, have you changed your mind?"
"Hah. Don't think I will forgive my blood debt just because I'm willing to hear you out. No need to take your time at it, what's the deal that your lord wished to send through you? If you are asking for me to forsake humanity, even for my brother, I can't take it."
'Hmmm, it seems he really doesn't have it, nor does he know it's gone, so it is as the lord suspected, he and the tattered demon aren't working together, is the tattered demon then working for the palace then? But we heard he was from the southern tribes…the emperor has no ties to the south. Is someone from the South interfering with the Central Plains?'
She had a tinkling sort of laughter, so light and beautiful, he could only conclude it was completely controlled. Since when could he hear the differences between laughter? She approached him, swaying just slightly, gracefully, with every step, her long neck shone in the bright sunlight..
"My lord doesn't wish for you to forsake humanity, in fact, he himself has little desire for that he has always loved humanity!"
"Hmph. Like I would believe that." He didn't back off from her as she approached, even as she stood merely milimeters from him.
"You doubt us? He told me himself, that he can hardly be the ruler of a nation, if there are no humans to make up that," she reached up to place her hand, "nation," gently, flirtatiously on his chin, he grabbed it, holding it so tight, she grit her teeth, as a finger snapped, before throwing it away from himself.
Dare to touch me? No one was allowed to, no one, except..an image flashed through his mind for a moment. Wait. Why did he think of her? She betrayed him. No one could touch him except his brother, how did he think he would end that sentence??
He scoffed at her. "You have given me no reason to have confidence in your kind. Stop playing, what must I do to get the lihuo flower from your hands?"
"Five flowers bloom every year, three went to the demonic cult." She spoke slowly, each word rhythmic, pronounced, as if singing a melody or reciting a poem. "Three men must die to receive it." Her fan whipped up to cover her face.
He didn't move, although his eyes lazily tracked her movements as she continued to circle him. She was attempting to hunt him like a predator, but it came off as a fox attempting to intimidate a tiger. His expression didn't change. "Who must die?"
She counted off her fingers as she continued to circle. "One, the head of the heavens, the emperor himself."
"As expected."
"Two, the dog that serves the emperor's seat, Xu Anqi."
"His death was already written on my blade."
"Three….The one who feeds the dog and emperor alike, Lin Weiming."
She paused here, glancing at him uncertainly. "You, by some reports, are said to be betrothed to his daughter, so this may seem against your desired intention, but, things may not be as simple as you think."
His expression didn't change. After the disaster of the last alchemist, he really was sure that no one could help his brother get better, other than the Lin family but…what was their stance on him? How aligned with the xu family were they really? Was there any relationship from the past through their grandfathers? "How so?" he gave none of his intentions away, his face as still as cold jade. He did not fully trust anything the demonic cult told him, they were known for lying with a smile on their face, but, so far they had only told him the truth, whether what she told him now was correct or not, at least he could have something to work with. He himself had no idea what the relationship between his father and patriarch Lin had been. His father had never mentioned him, nor did his mother.
The woman did not tell him right away, but found a seat in the courtyard. He frowned as she poured herself a cup of cooled tea. She sipped it. "Have you ever wondered, at least a little, why the Lin and Li families are not allies, even with how strong their ancestors' bond was?"
She paused, seeing his eyes were glued to her, her lips lifted up in delight, and she continued, setting down the cold tea. It seemed it was not to her taste.
"Long ago, before the sacrifice of Hongyu in the North, Before the rise of the Grey General in the South, before your father betrayed the Emperor and even before the birth of your fiance and sister, when you were just a small child, the emperor went on a hunt. With him, he took his escort warrior, general Li, who, a seasoned hunter himself, knew the area well, his bodyguard, Captain Xu Anqi, to protect him at all times, and his greatest confidant at the time, Grand Chancellor Lin."