Zhou paled in fear as he stared at the fists that were flying so fast that they were leaving after images. He shifted to the side, a fist barely grazing his skin. Zhou gritted his teeth as he felt his skin burn. Zhou continued to move around, trying to find a break where he could counter-attack. He was feeling hopeless as it seemed the fists would not stop.
'Just keep on moving. You will be fine,' Zhou heard a small voice echo in his ear. Zhou followed the voice's instruction without hesitation, circulating Qi to his legs.
'Thankfully er gege taught me footwork,' Zhou thanked Ye a thousand times in his head. Zhou quickly became disheartened as he felt his legs become heavier, his feet not being able to keep up with the messages coming from his brain.
A fist came dangerously close to him, stopping just before his chest. The clothing that covered his chest blackened. Zhou immediately moved to the side, feeling sluggish.
'Do not worry, you will not die,' the voice had returned. Almost immediately, Zhou felt the ball of spirit in his Dantian circulate into his legs. Zhou felt his legs become lighter than before, moving around so quickly that the room became distorted.
All of a sudden, the fists stopped. The only thing left was the smell of burning flesh and clothing, the area covered in smoke.
"Liuxian! are you okay?" Zhou turned around in the smoke, coughing as he tried to pinpoint the whereabouts of Ye's voice. He heard footsteps nearing him. Zhou tried to suppress his cough to speak.
"Er gege?" Zhou walked forward and saw Ye standing there, his back facing him. Zhou went to tap on his shoulder, his throat hurting from the smoke.
Ye felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around, eyes lighting up as he saw Zhou standing in front of him. He quickly pulled him into a hug, squeezing him like he was afraid Zhou would disappear.
"Are you alright?" Ye asked. Zhou's hair rustled as he nodded against Ye's chest.
"I got burned a bit and so did my robes and they're dirty," Zhou responded, voice muffled. Ye let out a small sigh of relief, releasing Zhou from his embrace.
"Let's go," Ye said. He took Zhou's hand with his and leaped out of the huge smokescreen. Zhou started coughing, holding his chest as he tried to vacate the smoke that had got into his lungs. Ye hit Zhou's back, willing his spirit tracker to help clean Zhou's lungs. After a long coughing fit, Zhou finally stopped coughing. Brother Gong handed him his water flask, observing the surface burns on Zhou. Zhou smiled at him gratefully, wincing as the cool water came into contact with his raw throat.
"Thank you, Brother Gong," Zhou thanked hoarsely. Brother Gong nodded and walked over to Brother Mo's body, sighing as he wrapped his arm around his waist and hauled him up, struggling to bring him out of the training grounds.
"What happened here?" Zhou, Ye, and Brother Gong looked towards the entrance of the training grounds, paling as a pair of eyes glared at them angrily.
"S-Sect Elder Lian Yi," Brother Gong stuttered out, bowing his head toward him. Sect Elder Lian Yi looked over at Zhou and Ye, nodding as they clasped their hands toward him.
"For Benefactor Zhemos' sake, what on earth happened here?" Sect Elder Lian Yi asked icily. Brother Gong glanced at Zhou and Ye, hesitant to tell what had happened.
"Well? Who's gonna answer me?" he asked again, becoming even angrier.
"Now, now Sect Elder Lian, settle down. Why don't we allow the children to rest in the infirmary before you start interrogating them?" Sect Elder Lian Yi looked over at the woman that had placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Sect Elder Hao Qui," Sect Elder Lian Yi nodded at her in greeting. Sect Elder Hao Qui gently patted his shoulder before looking over at Zhou, Ye, Brother Gong, and Brother Mo.
"Come along children. Let me bring you to the infirmary and get you patched up," Sect Elder Hao Qui easily picked up Brother Mo, turning around and walking out. Brother Gong looked over at Zhou and Ye, shrugging his shoulders before following her.
"Can you walk?" Ye asked Zhou. Zhou nodded, taking a wobbly step forward.
"Get on my back," Ye ordered, bending down in front of Zhou. Zhou got on without arguing, resting his head against Ye's back. The fatigue from the fight finally catching up to him as the adrenaline wore off.
"Why ask if you're just going to carry me anyway?" Zhou asked quietly. He waited for Ye's answer, one that he never got.
"You always insist on taking care of me but I never get the opportunity to take care of you. It isn't fair," Zhou grumbled.
"Go to sleep," Ye ordered. Zhou sighed and closed his eyes, instantly drifting off to sleep. He didn't notice how sore his body was or how his burned skin was prickling as the wind blew against or when his robes rubbed against it.
'You idiot. You've taken care of me more than you realize,' Ye thought, quickly getting to the infirmary. The nurse from before was sitting at the desk in the front. She looked up when the group walked in, eyes widening at the injuries of Brother Mo and Zhou.
The nurse rushed both of the boys in, quickly putting them into hospital robes and feeding them pills.
"What happened?" the nurse asked Sect Elder Hao Qui. Sect Elder Hao Qui smiled and shook her head.
"Just a small scuffle between two children, no biggie," Sect Elder Hao Qui said dismissively. The nurse nodded slowly before going over the charts.
"Well, Mo Lin has overstrained his muscles. He also has 3rd-degree burns on his face, arms, torso, and has 4th-degree burns on his hands. It looks to be done by the blessing of Hell's Fire, so it'll take about a month or two for him to fully heal from those burns even with pills and topical treatments. His fingers are all fractured and broken and it will take two months for those to heal. His Dantian is also unstable and raging, so once he gets well enough to cultivate again, he'll have to work to calm his spirit down, or else it might hurt him or he could become a cripple. We can only keep him stable for now, " the nurse read off the chart. The nurse looked back at Sect Elder Hao Qui who looked complicatedly at Brother Mo.
"What about Zhou Liuxian?" Sect Elder Hao Qui asked. The nurse flipped over the paper and started to recite what was written.
"Zhou Liuxian has 1st-degree burns on his arms, torso, and back. His ankle is sprained, but it's not too bad. He'll only need a couple of days to a week to recover," Sect Elder Hao Qui smiled tiredly at the nurse.
"Thank you so much, Nurse Ming. You can go now," Nurse Ming bowed towards Sect Elder Hao Qui and left the room.
~~~
"Er gege, that tickles," Zhou complained, wriggling around when Ye's fingers would brush against bundles of nerves.
"Stop moving around and just apply the ointment to your arms," Ye muttered, directing all of his attention to treating Zhou's burns.
"Ow!" Zhou cried out, arching his back. Ye sighed and gripped his shoulder, forcing him to stay still. Zhou settled down and put the ointment on his arms, a comfortable silence falling around them.
"How did you escape nearly uninjured?" Ye asked. Zhou looked towards the side and wiped his hands, finishing the treatment on his arms.
"It was like... It was like I could feel where his punch was going to land," Zhou said. Ye paused for a split second.
"Feel?" he asked.
"I don't know how to explain it. I just moved randomly and hoped I wouldn't get hit,"
"What a lucky bastard," Zhou snorted and gently elbowed Ye. Quietness followed again, and Zhou thought back to the fight.
'You were truly lucky this time,' Zhou blinked as he heard a familiar voice in his head.
'Pendant? Is that you?' Zhou thought. A bright jingle of laughter followed his question.
'Why don't you look and see?' A bright light flashed into Zhou's eyesight. Zhou cringed and blinked his eyes before widening them as he saw a beautiful figure standing in front of him. Before Zhou could ask who that was, Ye had moved in front of him, blocking his view.
"Who are you?" Ye asked coldly. The figure smiled and raised a hand.
"I mean no harm, Ye Zhong. I am the pendant that Zhou held around his neck," the figure explained. Zhou tugged on Ye's robe.
"It's fine, er gege. I know who that is," Zhou assured. Ye sat back down, looking at the mysterious figure.
"Pendant, how are you like this now?" Zhou asked.
"You are able to cultivate, so I am now able to feed on the impurities that are in the Qi as well as help rid your body of impurities over time. Impurities are how I gain my strength," the figure responded.
"Does that mean I won't look sickly anymore?" The figure only smiled at Zhou's question.
"Unfortunately, I can not do that. My abilities as a spirit provider are very limited. Your body will only be more immune to sickness, but your body constitution is what gives you a sickly appearance. There is nothing I can do about it," Zhou's face instantly fell as he looked at his pale and skinny arms. He hated the look of them. He frowned at how unsightly his fingers, palms, wrists, and forearms looked.
"Your sickly body is beautiful Liuxian," Ye said, snapping Zhou out of his thoughts. Zhou felt a euphoric bubble pop in his chest at the compliment.
"Thank you er gege," Zhou replied. The figure chuckled and rubbed Zhou's head. Zhou thought that it felt comforting, yet strange. It felt like a mist that was barely solid touching him. It tickled his scalp as that mist curled against his neck and vanished.
The figure turned to Ye, looking at him with complicated eyes.
"Ye Zhong, I do hope that you do not forget the promise you made to the Prince and Princess of the Heavens," the figure said, a thick murderous aura settled into the air. Ye narrowed his eyes and shook his head, hands unconsciously gripping his robes.
"How can I forget when there's so much at stake with it?" Ye growled through gritted teeth. The figure smiled.
"Good. Then I must go. It takes a lot to stay in this form instead of my original form. Until next time, Zhou, Ye," the figure faded into the air, the mist that was holding the form disappearing.
"What promise are they talking about?" Zhou asked, turning to look at Ye. Ye shook his head and turned Zhou back around, going back to putting ointment on his back.
"Your fingers are cold, er gege," Zhou complained. Ye ignored him, absentmindedly scratching his chest.
'Some things are better left unknown, Liuxian,'
~~~
Sect Elder left a couple of minutes after the nurse, going into the room across the hall. She knocked before opening the door. Inside was Ye and Zhou. Zhou's robes were bunched around his waist as Ye gently put ointment onto his burns. Zhou would flinch every now and then or giggle when Ye unintentionally tickled him.
"Disciple Ye, Disciple Zhou," Zhou and Ye turned and bowed their heads towards Sect Elder Hao Qui.
"Sect Elder Hao Qui, hello," Zhou greeted. Sect Elder Hao Qui smiled at him before examining his body. The burns were healing from the powerful ointment as his skin became baby soft and milky white instead of the angry red it was earlier.
"Disciple Zhou, how were you able to fight Disciple Mo?" she asked, suspicions growing in her mind. For a person who she's never seen cultivate, nor take classes seriously, Zhou might be a genius.
"I didn't fight him, Sect Elder," Zhou answered. Sect Elder Hao Qui's eye twitched in anger.
"What do you mean Disciple Zhou?"
"He attacked me. I didn't even get a chance to attack him. I only dodged his attacks," Sect Elder Hao Qui felt like throwing up blood from Zhou's smart-ass response.
'What a sly tongue for such a young child,'
"Have you been cultivating?" Zhou glanced at Ye before nodding.
"I've recently reached enlightenment in myself, so I am using it as inspiration to cultivate," Zhou quickly said, smiling brightly like nothing was wrong with the answer. Sect Elder Hao Qui really felt like throwing up blood.
'Isn't it a bit too obvious that you are just saying that you were too lazy and bored to cultivate?' Sect Elder Hao Qui forced a smile onto her face.
"That's good. I will inform the other elders that you are cultivating now,"
"Thank you Sect Elder Hao Qui," Zhou thanked. Sect Elder Hao Qui examined Zhou, trying to sense his spirit to tell what rank he is. Her eyelids fluttered as she couldn't find even a sliver of his spirit.
"Disciple Zhou, I can only feel your benefactor's spirit, not your own. Are you hiding it?" Ye paused and looked at Zhou, his eyes greeting with Zhou's panicked ones.
"I do not know what you are talking about Sect Elder. I am not hiding my spirit," Zhou answered, praying she would buy it.
'Not hiding his spirit? Is he also a genius? Will our Mountain Base Sect really be able to nurture two genius's?' Sect Elder Hao Qui could not help but contain her excitement as a grin worked it's way onto her face.
"Good! Good! I will leave you be for today. Please rest so you can recover quickly," Sect Elder Hao Qui practically skipped out of the room, humming. Ye looked toward the door, his eyebrow quirking up. Zhou let out a sigh of relief.
"Being a spiritless is stressful," Zhou complained. Ye gently put a non-stick bandage on his back.
"Why is it so stressful?" Ye asked before he could stop himself. Ye flinched since he knew the answer, his heart chilling.
"I can die if people find out you know. I'm not supposed to exist," Zhou said in a carefree manner. Ye felt his fingertips become cold, nearly freezing. He wrapped his arms around Zhou's shoulders, giving him a hug. He buried his hands in between their arms, trying to warm them up.
"I won't let anyone hurt you," Ye said seriously. Zhou laughed and patted Ye's arm, not noticing that Ye's skin was becoming a chilling temperature at a noticeable rate.