Dried leaves crunch under his boots and a crow sings as it flies through the forest. Jiao Zihua tries his best to look cold as he steps into the abandoned tunnel that was supposed to be an emergency exit for his sect and looks for the intruder. It could be said that most people are scared of the stories of people disappearing in the tunnel so they mostly stay away but there are always those who like challenges.
Footsteps and breathing are the only things that could be heard in the tunnel. Jiao Zihua furrowed his brows as he looked at all the broken arrays on the ground…an Aurora Emperor, probably.
That's bad, actually. He'd only advanced to King a week ago.
Jiao Zihua knew that the best option right then and there was to call for backup and go with another senior to confront whoever was inside, but, the niggling feeling in the back of his head says that he needed to find the person right away…besides, didn't he go with the patrol group this time to prove being competent?
A crow lands on his shoulder and spontaneously burst into flames, yet the flames didn't once touch Jiao Zihua or burn him. If one were to touch it, they would find it was of abnormal warmth too. One of the the Hybrid sect's most proud creations; a pseudo-phoenix bird.
He walks with brisk steps towards where the smell of blood suddenly intensified.
Then, Jiao Zihua sees silver hair and almost immediately runs away on principle. But the crow caws almost happily and lands on top of the silver hair.
Dark blue robes, ripped and bloody. A…girl? Not important, what is important is that he immediately brings the girl back and get her treated before the Qin hunt their sect down for letting one of their members die on their grounds. That clan…well, both the big clans are completely unreasonable, but the Qin are not very tolerant of the demonic arts.
The girl is unconscious and looks to be about twelve, Jiao Zihua takes a quick look at the most obvious injury.
He winces in sympathy for whoever it was that reduced a Qin member that looks very important to this state and carefully picks her up. Pieces of wood in her back, but a stab wound on her shoulder…sh*t, without time to think Jiao Zihua just materializes a cot with appropriate holes so it does not irritate any of the wounds and carefully stuffs the girl in.
As expected, everyone panics when they see the combination of silver hair and injuries.
Still, "Someone get Hall Master Fu! Another one of you, get my father or brother!"
The people immediately scatter to follow orders and hopefully not inspire more panic…Jiao Zihua really should have rethought that but there was no time!
By the time he gets to the Third Hall, his father is just arriving and looking very shocked at the girl. He motions her over and Jiao Zihua sighs in relief of not having to continue to maintain the materialization of a cot. His father easily brings the girl into Hall Master Fu's main medical room and is immediately kicked out.
"Zihua," Jiao Zimu, Jiao Zihua's brother, suddenly says from behind him. Appearing suddenly, he really is the same as ever. "Report what happened."
"Right, so I…"
Time passes and Leiji wishes it could go faster.
Lu Leiji and Lightning are berating them for not letting them take over when there they were obviously outclassed by an opponent. Again.
Fine, Leiji isn't comparable to either of them in strength even when they were their age. Either of them would have been able to fend off a mere Aurora Myth at the same age as they are, much less now when the two are much older. It's just, they didn't like it when the two of them talk down to them.
So maybe they should have trained more. Maybe they should have simply pushed themselves all the time.
But they didn't.
Because mother would be worried. Hongyun would never let them do that. Light wouldn't understand why, because she still has the mindset that Lightning is invincible.
Light, to put it rather simply, knows about some things and figures that Lightning is still invincible, and she is in a certain way invincible. As long as Zapfino does not interfere, then she can easily claim being the strongest and no one will be able to contest.
Ling Fengbao…also would not like that very much. He thinks that Leiji lacks foundation.
In a way, Leiji does lack a stable foundation. They don't solidify their bases or even spend time getting used to their level before advancing again because it is simply easy to do so. To a normal person, this should be enough to cripple them.
But Leiji isn't normal.
They have three other souls inside them, one of them already having reached Aurora Saint once and the other two practically gods in their own right. No matter how fast Leiji cultivates, they will immediately have a perfectly stable foundation and such a thing will last until they advance to the Deity ranks.
Unfortunately, deities in this world are probably all bastards, so Leiji will not advance to that stage.
They open their eyes to a room that looked like a medical bay.
The room itself is rather dimly lit, candles in all four corners of it. Everything seems…no, it's all made of stone. Leiji is probably underground, but they remember passing out in the tunnel after Lu Leiji told them it was fine to do so. Was this place somewhere he thought safe?
How rare.
Just then, the door opens and a nervous-looking boy comes in. Leiji sits up and turns to look at him and the boy…promptly slams the door close.
…is Leiji that scary?
After a moment or two, the same boy opens the door again, an older man beside him.The older man is very clearly also nervous and looks rather shocked that anyone, much less a little girl, could have such a fast recovery process. The stab wound and long gash had long stopped bleeding and was now just a little wet, the smaller injuries having scabbed over.
The fast recovery is probably because of Zapfino, neither Lightning nor Lu Leiji have any healing abilities and even if they did, they would both completely ignore them.
"Hi," the nervous-looking boy says after fidgeting a little. The older man had left, saying he was going to do something. "I was the one who found you, my name is Jiao Zihua."
Zihua? Well, Leiji shouldn't judge people by their names, especially when considering their own name. They smile, hoping to ease Jiao Zihua's nerves, and reply with, "Hello, my name is Leiji."
"No family name?" Jiao Zihua asks. "And…is it fine if I refer to you as female?"
Someone…is asking?
To tell the truth, Leiji probably shouldn't be this distraught about their gender. Physically, they are male and thus should be male, but they had spent a long time confused because they could remember more of Lightning's life and being an arguably well adjusted woman. They thought of themselves as a female for most of their life.
Does it matter? Why should it matter? Leiji is physically male, but is too…to be able to fully acknowledge it so they use "they". They want to be female sometimes, male sometimes, but does it matter?
"I'm a male." Leiji says.
"That doesn't answer my question." Jiao Zihua frowns as he says this, then laughs as if thinking about something funny. "You know, it's fine if you don't want to be male! I mean, I sometimes don't either…"
Lu Leiji does not understand such things. Lightning understands but has never truly had a problem with such a thing and Zapfino is the same.
Leiji…asks, confused, "Why do you care?"
"Um…" Jiao Zihua plays with his fingers. "Our sect is rather well-known for taking in the people exiled from the, ugh, 'righteous sects' because they are 'different'. It's just, our etiquette, you know? Like how you don't attack someone when they are down, we take pride in not misunderstanding someone's orientation. So, it's fine if you don't want to be male here!"
"I don't…" Leiji takes a deep breath, wondering just why they are being so vulnerable in front of a stranger. "I don't know yet, please use 'they'."
"Understood," the word is followed by the door opening again and the older man from earlier coming in with yet another older man, except the new guy looks a lot like Jiao Zihua. In fact, they look a lot like father and son…
"Greetings," Jiao Zihua's probably father greets and directly says the following words. "We did not mean any offense by my son's actions; please do not get your clan involved."
Leiji blinks.
Their…clan? The closest thing they had to a clan in this world is the Ling and that's only because they're engaged to Ling Hongyun. The same Ling Hongyun whose mental link they blocked. That or the little family they have. Why do they immediately assume that they belong to a clan?
"I don't quite understand what you mean by that." Leiji tells the man who is definitely Jiao Zihua's father. "I do not belong to any clan; furthermore, your son has my gratitude for saving me."
Jiao Zihua's father falls into a thinking motion and he eventually sighs, "I understand. I am this sect's leader, Jiao Kongrong. For now, you are allowed to stay here to recuperate from your injuries and will essentially be treated like a guest. I would like to ask you not to interfere with the sect's matters. Jiao Zihua will be in charge of you, as he is the one who had found you, is that fine?"
"That is far more than enough." Leiji tells him drily.
Jiao Kongrong nods and leaves, feet not touching the floor at all.
("According to this world's standards, he is an Aurora Legend. One whole tier above that old bastard." Lightning informs in a rather monotone voice. Lu Leiji smiles slightly, "This sect is trustworthy, don't worry."
Lightning does not say more, but Zapfino imitates her earlier tone and announces, "I can't believe that Lu Leiji actually has something good to say about anything."
The man himself rolls his eye, then turns to Leiji and tells them almost offhandedly, "Be careful around Jiao Zimu."
Leiji harrumphs and zones back into reality.)
Jiao Zihua smiles proudly, before turning back to Leiji and asking, "Can you walk yet?"
They are almost offended that he asks such a thing. Did they seem that weak? Then again, this boy found them injured and unconscious, so it should be normal…Leiji answers, "I am fine now."
When Leiji walks out of the room, they are met with a similarly dimly lit hallway and several of what are probably this sect's disciples.
They wanted to sigh. Even though mother had cautioned them not to get involved with sects and Leiji themselves had very decidedly not included sects in their plan…this world must really hate them, right?
"Honored guest," a boy that looks a lot like Jiao Zihua greets, nodding simply before looking at Zihua himself and telling him, "Don't mess up."
"That was my big brother," Jiao Zihua starts after the boy walks away, "his name is Jiao Zimu!"
Someone that Lu Leiji had told them to be wary of…
Jiao Zimu continues to walk away, the disciples parting for him and looking oddly…lonely. There isn't a single person by his side and no one seems to dare breath wrong near him, Jiao Zihua seems either oblivious or uncaring of such a thing. This family is rather odd; they should probably not get involved with it.
Which is easier said than done, considering…
Leiji had tried several times, but they are unable to contact anyone through their mental bonds. Hongyun should be really worried by now right now and Leiji is unable to contact them.