Chapter 17
A short while later, the trio realised that it was already time to meet up with Roxy, they made their way to the agreed meeting point at the front of the market, where they saw Roxy seated on a bench nearby.
"You have quite the nerve to keep me waiting, I hope you have a good excuse."
Roxy said grumpily, it was clear to the others that her business didn't go smoothly. While Ren would normally proceed with caution when his master was in a bad mood, Olivia didn't have such fears and immediately ran up to her with Ren's newly acquired instrument.
"Look at this, Ren's going to learn the violin, isn't that amazing. The store owner said he was a once in a life time prodigy and begged to give him lessons."
Olivia boasted, embellishing the story even further. Roxy raised an eyebrow in shock, her training addicted disciple actually decided to learn an instrument, she couldn't help but shoot a curious glance in Ren's direction. When Roxy saw the downcast expression on his face, she chuckled, it seemed like it was never his decision in the first place.
to begin with.
"Still the violin, I can't believe he picked the same instrument as that harlot."
Roxy thought inwardly, well whatever, it wasn't like learning an instrument would be a bad thing, in fact it would probably help improve his concentration. Still, it didn't look like he was that enthusiastic about it.
"Well, isn't this interesting brat, how can you be a musician when you have the personality of a toe, playing an instrument requires emotion, you best quit before you disgrace the instrument."
Roxy said, intentionally trying to rile him up. It was an obvious trick but Ren fell for it hook, line and sinker.
"I can definitely play it, give me a few weeks and I'll blow your socks off."
Ren said defiantly, one thing he disliked was being doubted. Roxy chuckled at his declaration. A few weeks, try a few years. She was well aware of Ren's talent, especially that terrifyingly accurate memory of his but… never underestimate what it takes to be a musician.
"I'll look forward to it then… still the violin must have been expensive. How much money do you have left?"
Roxy asked curiously, Olivia took out the coin bag that Roxy had given them and tipped it upside down, It was completely empty. When Roxy saw this, her eyes narrowed.
"You realise that I didn't just give you that money… you have to pay me back."
Roxy words made the cheerful smile on Olivia's face freeze.
"WHAT."
Olivia exclaimed in shock and her face paled like she had just seen a ghost.
"I'm not a fucking charity, you best have my money before we leave or I'll be leaving by myself, that goes for you as well brat."
Now it was Ren's turn to be speechless, he glared at Olivia who was the main culprit. When faced with Ren's gaze, Olivia simply looked away and started whistling.
***
Ren and Olivia decided to leave the issue of their crippling debt for another day. Once Li Hongji had gifted Roxy the Feng shui bracelet, they decided to follow his lead and explore the city while talking amongst themselves.
The city of Weifeng was full of life and colour, the particular area they were walking through was full of huge temples, impressive sculptures and hundreds of people. Li Hongji was fully within his element as a tour guide pointing out various land marks as they went along.
"This area is known as Shen district, it's a sacred ground for our people. On your coming-of-age ceremony when you turn fifteen, its tradition to make a pilgrimage here and offer your respects to the many gods that watch over this island."
Li Hongji explained, while stopping them in front of a huge golden temple that towered over them.
"This is the temple of Mother Nuwa, you would start your pilgrimage outside this temple and visit all other temples before ending your journey on this very spot, no one is allowed to enter Nuwa's temple, not even his majesty himself."
The group continued to chat amongst themselves as they walked around but a short while later Roxy stopped dead in her tracks.
BOOOOOM.
Just as Olivia went to ask her what was wrong, a deafening explosion rang throughout the district. A massive fireball erupted from the golden temple of Nuwa behind them, engulfing the surrounding area in flames. The blast sent out a shockwave of compressed air that raced towards them at break-neck speeds.
Within such a short time frame, only Roxy was able to react, before the shockwave reached them, she held out her hands and shouted something that was lost within the roars of the explosion and the shockwave simply passed around them, the billowing cloud of dust that followed revealed that they were being protected by a large and invisible bubble.
Only now did the others react, they dropped to the ground while covering their ears in agony from the ear destroying racket.
"tsk, you sure have some balls"
Roxy said coldly, there was an orange flash of light as her sword Blaze appeared in her hands. Countless embers began to form around her and a fierce heat began to radiate from her body.
WHOOSH.
Roxy sword flickered in her hand performing a simple swing that immediately cleared the dust in huge area around them, revealing the carnage caused by the explosion.
The whole district was covered in smouldering rubble and charred bodies, the temples surrounding the blast had completely disappeared. The temple of Nuwa had been completely vaporized and a massive shadow emerged, towering over the remaining buildings with ease.
A thirty-meter-long black python slithered into view, it had two devilish horns protruding from his head and its diamond shaped scales were so tough that it caused sparks to fly from under it as it slid over the rubble.
Roxy's locked eyes with the snake, making it freeze in its tracks for a brief moment, its forked tongue lashed out wildly and its beady golden eyes stared back menacingly.
"So that wasn't enough to scare you. Good, good… this is good. I hope you can at least put up a fight."
Roxy said grinning like a maniac. Her aura surged and streaks of fire seemed to dance around her as a suffocating pressure fell over the area. This was the breaking point for the snake, its eyes showed clear traces of fear, it immediately turned around, trying to run away.
"Tsk, I had high hopes."
Roxy said while sinking into a low stance, similar to the Lightning stance she had taught Ren.
"Watch closely brat, this is a godsent opportunity to witness your master's power"
Roxy said, noticing that Ren had recovered and was now watching her intently. Roxy's eyes glowed bright orange, it had been quite some time since she had used this much power, a whole year to be exact, hopefully she hadn't gotten rusty.
Roxy became deathly still, her presence was so strong that you couldn't help but focus on her. The streaks of fire that were dancing around her, gathered around her sword as she let out a deep breath.
"Dance of the flame god, form one… Afterburn."
Silence.
Complete silence. Everything seemed to come to a standstill, even the wind didn't dare to intrude. The python who had gotten reasonably far away, stopped moving and trembled violently, its huge body slowly separated into two halves causing its blood to paint the ground red.
The false tranquillity was broken by an intense heatwave that drenched Ren's body in sweat, he looked up just in time, to see both parts of the snake's corpse become engulfed in flames, reducing it to ash in a matter of seconds.
"Watch closely she said."
Ren thought inwardly, how was he meant to watch closely if the attack happened so fast that he wasn't able to react.
***
A short while later, the others had fully recovered. Roxy and Li Hongji were talking to some soldiers who had rushed onto the scene shortly after, while Ren was sitting on the sidewalk, deep in thought.
Ren was busy recounting the previous events in his head, this was obviously one of the beast attacks that they had heard about from Official Wu when entering the kingdom but Ren had never expected it to be like this.
If it weren't for Roxy, they would have been steam rolled by that explosion before they even got the chance to be a paltry snack for the snake, it reminded Ren that he still had a long way to go before he was strong enough to get his vengeance. However, the thing that caught his attention was Roxy's actions after the snake was slain, she continued to look around, almost as if searching for something… or someone.
But before Ren could explore this line of thought any further, a wailing Olivia latched on to him, hugging Ren tightly.
"Waaaah, Ren are you okay, are you hurt, I was so scared, there was a boom and then there was dust and there was a huge snake and then there wa-"
"I'm fine miss Olivia."
Ren said while escaping from her embrace, it was at this point that Roxy finishing talking with the soldiers and walked back over to them while Li Hongji stayed behind to chat with the soldiers.
Olivia looked like she realised something and tugged on Ren's sleeve.
"Quick we need to help, there must be survivors in the rubble. Hurry up Ren, since we're not hurt, we might be able to save them."
Olivia shouted with urgency but Ren didn't respond and continued to remain silent.
"What are you doing Ren, come on let's go."
Olivia was stopped by Roxy, who placed a firm hand on her shoulder and spoke slowly to her.
"There's no one left to save."
"What do you mean there's no one to save, look there's injured people all around us, we can still… we can still… huh."
Olivia collapsed when she saw what she was pointing at, charred remains littered the street, the people nearest to the explosion had been vaporized on the spot and those further away had been thrown around like ragdolls due to the shockwave, their bodies smashed to bits in the process, to top it all off, the fireball had superheated the air, burning all their remnants to a crisp.
In the area around them, they were the sole survivors. Olivia burst into tears leaping into Ren's arms, crying into his chest.
"Just be glad we're alive."
Ren said doing his best to console her, they had survived and were completely unharmed, why was she so upset over people they had never even met.
"Tsk, you're just making it worse brat, you have no idea how to comfort people do you."
Roxy said, she lightly tapped Olivia's scalp, making her slump against Ren, she was unconscious. Ren gently placed her down on the ground before looking up at his master weirdly.
"Is knocking someone out comforting to them."
Ren asked doubtfully and Roxy didn't even bother responding. After all, Olivia was already exhausted from training last night which was something she was keeping secret from Ren. After Olivia had recovered her energy, she should be able to handle her emotions better.
Seeing that his master had fallen silent, Ren decided to ask Roxy about her suspicious activity after the explosion.
"Was this attack caused by someone master? You seemed to be looking for someone after killing the beast."
"You're about a hundred years too early to try and understand my actions. But yes, this attack was caused by someone else."
Roxy said with a deep sigh. That explosion wasn't something that python was capable off, also there was the question of how the snake even got there in the first place, they were deep within the city, transporting a beast of that size would be far too noticeable, especially in broad daylight. Plus, there was also that evil chaotic presence she felt… it couldn't be, right.
"What's wrong master… master."
Ren asked while tugging on Roxy's sleeve, causing her to snap out of it, there was no use trying to draw conclusions from the limited information she had. The others were safe, that was what mattered the most.
"it's none of your business brat, just make sure you keep those damn lips of yours sealed."
***
Li Hongji finished talking to the soldiers and returned clutching a black envelope that he handed over to Roxy.
"Is Lady Olivia okay."
He asked when he saw her sleeping peacefully on the ground.
"She was just tired, anyway what's this about."
Roxy replied, tearing open the envelope Li Hongji gave her.
"Oh, the soldiers were actually Royal guards, the reason they arrived so fast was because they were already looking for us to hand this letter over, they said it was an invitation of sorts."
"Let's take a look then."
Roxy said beginning to read the letter out loud.
"Honoured guest's, blah blah. Tomorrow evening, blah blah blah. Banquet at the royal palace, for the younger generation to showcase their talents, blah blah blah. Regards King Tang."
"Will we be going."
Li Hongji pieced together what Roxy hadn't skipped over and asked Roxy, who thought about it for a while.
"Seems like a chance to gain some information, I don't have any issue with going."
Roxy said, picking Olivia up and carrying her over her shoulder. It was time to back to the inn.
On the rooftop of a temple that was still intact, a hooded figure watched them from a distance as they departed, strands of long raven black hair spilled out of the sides of her hood as they danced freely in the wind.
"So… you came. Ha hah You actually came, hahaha… now this is going to be fun."
***
By the time they returned to the inn, it was starting to get dark. Roxy placed Olivia on the bed and tucked her in.
"Maybe, it's still too soon for her."
Roxy thought inwardly. She had taken Olivia out of her peaceful life and forced her to accept the cruelties of this world. Roxy had brought her along to help fix Ren but that wouldn't happen if she became broken herself.
"Brat keep an eye on Olivia, it seems like it's time to finish what we came here to do, a lot of things don't make sense about today's incident and I don't want to be caught up in someone else's problems."
Roxy said, initially she wanted to savour the trip a bit longer but now it was probably best for them to find that harlot and leave a soon as possible. She looked over a Li Hongji.
"Your coming with me, I need you as a tour guide."
Roxy said pulling him by the arm and taking him outside before he realised what was happening. Ren was now left alone with Olivia. Since he had nothing to do, he should probably train.
"Enjoy the little things in life"
Ren suddenly remembered the words Olivia had said to him previously. He looked at her tranquil expression and felt somewhat conflicted.
"Tsk."
Ren grabbed the violin that Roxy had left behind and took it out of the case, next to it, was a small green book called "Violin for dummies" that Mr Lin had given them free of charge.
On the first page of the book there was a hand-drawn diagram of the correct posture he should use when playing, after reading through the notes that were alongside the diagram as well as remembering how Lin Mei played, he gave it a shot.
SCREECH
Olivia's eyelids began twitching probably due to the horrendous noise. After making sure she was still asleep Ren moved a bit further away and tried to find where he went wrong in the book.
"Tip for dummies, if your violins screeching, your probably tone deaf… or you're pressing down to hard on the strings with the bow, also make sure to put rosin on your bow."
After heeding the books advice, Ren played another open string, at first the note played smoothly but halfway through his bow stroke the note became softer.
"Tip for dummies, the bows weight is not distributed evenly, the end of the bow is much lighter than the frog (place where you hold the bow.) Naturally you will have to press the bow down harder the further up the bow you are. What are you stupid?"
Ren was starting to feel a little insulted. How was he meant to enjoy the little things, when he was being bullied by an inanimate object.
This process continued a few more times before Ren could finally sustain a note on the open A string.
Coincidentally, this is also when Olivia started waking up. As soon as she woke up the first thing, she did was jump onto Ren making him almost drop the violin.
Ren looked down at her, she wasn't crying, in fact her usual cheerful smile was plastered on her face as she stroked Ren's hair.
"ugh, you stink."
Olivia pinched her nose, Ren stared at her for a while before speaking
"How long have you been awake?"
He saw through that act she was putting up, that smile was forced. Clearly, she had been awake for a while and had prepared herself before talking to him.
"hah, I guess you got me. I woke up around the time you started shouting angrily at that book. But you do smell, I'll go run a bath."
Olivia sprinted to the bathroom, Ren sighed and put down the violin, he got a weird feeling from her just now, she seemed fragile.
A few minutes later Olivia came out and pushed Ren into the bathroom and started taking of her clothes.
"you're coming too."
"yeah, is that a problem."
Ren wanted to protest but the forced expression on her face made him reconsider, if that what it took to console her, Ren didn't mind playing along.
"No, I guess not."
He said taking off his clothes and getting into the bath. Olivia smile sweetly at him but underneath that smile she was crumbling. When she saw those bodies, she felt powerless, she kept thinking back to what Roxy said "Being right doesn't matter, only strength does."
She got into the bath and began scrubbing Ren's back. Her thoughts kept flashing back to all those dead bodies, supposedly that was the fate of the weak, dying before they even knew what happened.
Olivia glanced over Ren's shoulder and saw that nasty scar on his stomach, this whole time she wanted to protect Ren but she new nothing about his past, hell she didn't even know his last name.
"Ren."
"Yes, Miss Olivia."
"How did you get that scar?"
Olivia took a shot in the dark, half expecting to be ignored like usual. Ren sighed, he had been planning to tell her if she ever asked, there was something about Olivia that he just couldn't pin down, she treated him well, far too well. At first, he didn't know why she acted like this and thought she was trying to get something out of him but recent events told him, that's just how she was. Olivia was a kind person with no ulterior motives, he could trust a person like this.
"It's a long story."
"Never mind… huh, what did you just say."
Olivia exclaimed in surprise not believing what Ren had just said.
***
After Ren had finished recollecting his past, the two sat in silence. Olivia hugged him from behind making some of the water spill out of the wooden tub.
"I can be your older sister from now on."
"One is already plenty."
"hmph, well from now on your my younger brother."
"what's the difference."
"just accept already."
"tsk, fine, but don't expect me to call you sis."
"No problem lil bro."
Olivia smiled widely, Ren was used to seeing Olivia smile, but this time something felt different, that smile made everything in the room brighter, to Ren it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.