"Thank you for saving me. You are Bingxue and you are Huoxing? Am I right?" They nodded. Lingling bowed and thanked them. Bingxue got straight to the point. "Miss. Ling, what exactly happened?"
Lingling cleared her throat and replied, "Some lady poured tea for Lord Weijun but I stopped him from drinking the tea because I knew it was poison. Then, I told Lord Weijun to leave while asking Ah Jing to stay with him. Then, while you guys were heading my way, I disabled this person with my needling technique. He'll wake up soon."
"How did you know it was poison?" Huoxing asked while he rubbed his prominent chin with his index finger. His eyes were closed as if he was suspicious about something.
"The color... was abnormal. That's all I can say." Lingling replied. She had seen something similar back in her hometown. The poison was eerily similar. But on the safer side, she didn't want to reveal too much about her skills.
Bingxue sighed and replied in a stern tone, " You just saved our lord. From now on, please stay with him and report any suspicious activities to me." Lingling's face blushed and nodded. She hurried back to Lord Weijun's side after all of this.
"What will we do with her?" Huoxing pointed at the man who got disabled by Lingling.
"I'll report it to our lord. You bring her to the dungeon below the palace." Bingxue ordered Huoxing who was freaking out.
"No way! I don't want to touch him. Bing Xue, you do it! Please!" Bingxue ignored Huoxing, so he had no choice but to bring the unconscious man to the dungeon.
*
Lingling went into Lord Weijun's room after that incident. For some reasons, her heart was beating too fast. Am I nervous? She thought about everything but shook her head. "I did nothing wrong." Lord Weijun was sitting on the edge of his bed as if he was waiting for someone.
"Who is at the door?" He asked. Lingling quietly entered and said her name. She was afraid Lord Weijun would get mad at her.
"Are you afraid of me?" Lord Weijun asked and Lingling shook her head, "No, Your majesty. Everything is fine. Oh right, Lord Weijun... I heard Bing Xue will come and report the incident to you. Did he come yet?" After a few moment of silence, Lord Weijun nodded.
"He did. He told me everything. Lingling, can you do me a favor?" Lord Weijun reached out his hand and asked for her. She wanted to try her best at this place but because of the palace politics, she didn't want to get involved too much.
"Where would you like to go, Lord Weijun?" She asked.
"I would like you to take me to the dungeon. I want to meet the man." He replied without smiling and Lingling nodded.
"Lord Weijun, I'm sorry to ask. I'm still not familiar with this place. If you remember the way, could you tell me? Or I can ask someone else for direction." Lingling felt embarrassed that she wasn't able to help.
"My apologies, I assumed you knew the way. If I describe it for you, would that be okay?" Lingling nodded.
"I'll try my best, Lord Weijun."
After they got to the dungeon, everywhere around them was dim with minimal sunlight. Each of the prison cells were full of people. Most of them were criminals like thieves, gamblers, murderers. Lingling made sure Lord Weijun was safe and sound. Once they saw the man who charged at them, Bingxue was already there interrogating him.
"My lord, you're here." Bingxue bowed as he saw the golden dragon leader. He stood behind him while Lingling helped Lord Weijun seated on the chair. Lingling backed off as well and stood beside Bingxue. When Lord Weijun interrogated the man, the more defensive he (the man )became. That man was bald with black marks on his forehead. His neck had a scorpion tattoo. He wasn't that tall but he was quite bold.
"Who was behind you?" Lord Weijun asked straightforwardly.
"No one." That man refused to answer. Then, he refused the second and third time. Lord Weijun signalled Bingxue for assistance.
"Get rid of him. Destroy his power." Lord Weijun ordered Bingxue to cripple the man. I guess that's still better than having him dead on the floor, Lingling thought to herself. That man laughed and shouted, "Even if you destroy me, you will never destroy my master! You cannot escape from him, he has his people placed in every corner of the palace. HAHAHA!"
"Shut up!" Bingxue yelled. "I guess the pain isn't too much, then."
"AHHH!" Bingxue increased his power and finally, that man became crippled and half-dead. Lingling was amazed at Bingxue. She couldn't believe what she had witnessed.
"This is better than the mortal realm." She whispered.
*
That night, Lingling was sleeping in her room when she heard someone sleep talking. It got to the point where sleeping was difficult for her. She carefully put on her shoes then tiptoed to Lord Weijun's bedroom which was beside her bedroom. She closed the door carefully then as she quietly approached him, the sleep-talking started again.
Lord Weijun had the same dream again. Ling An, his lover, whispered something to him but before he could say anything, she got stabbed. Blood came out of her mouth and her abdomen. Ling An fainted in his arms and her breathing became weaker. Weijun looked at Ling An with tears in his eyes and yelled her name numerous times. Ling An passed away before she could say goodbye to her lover.
"Ling An, don't leave. Ling An, wake up. Don't leave me behind. You can't leave me." Lord Weijun clenched his blanket with cold sweat running down his forehead. Lingling sat beside him and wiped away his sweat using her sleeves. She didn't want to wake him up. As she held onto his cool hand, his breathing started to slow down. Even though she didn't know what had happened during the past, she will do everything that she can so she wouldn't be slowing everyone down.