Jin Lu breathed in Long Yin's familiar scent, loath to admit the level of comfort she felt with him near. Peeking through her lashes, she could see that Long Yin's eyes were still closed. Deciding to relax back into Long Yin's warm embrace, Jin Lu laid her head against Long Yin's chest as she tried to make sense of her new reality.
First, there was a high probability that the group she had first come in contact with in this world had found her. It was possible that they still wanted her dead, but it wasn't for sure.
Second, the people who had kidnapped her were connected to the school Long Yin had enrolled her in. Jin Lu could conclude that he had enrolled her in Kuru Academy to give himself a plausible reason to be there.
Third, and most importantly, she still didn't know enough about this world to survive on her own. That last bit was deeply frustrating, making her frown harshly as she tapped her finger at a counter rhythm to Long Yin's heartbeat.
Long Yin, having woken as soon as Jin Lu's breathing had changed, was enjoying Jin Lu's unwitting attention and the feel of having his Yang in his arms. He berated himself for the umpteenth time for allowing his inattention to cause Jin Lu to wander off. If he hadn't gotten distracted by a sudden communication from his informant, he would have noticed Jin Lu's absence immediately.
Jin Lu stopped tapping her finger when she felt Long Yin's arms tighten so hard it made it hard for her to breathe. She raised her head to look at him just as he sat up with her on his lap. Jin Lu gasped slightly at the sudden change in position, feeling her face heating at the stiff contact underneath her rear. Fire blazed higher when she became aware that her body was in a similar predicament.
Ah… shit!
Jin Lu tried to push away from Long Yin, but it was futile.
"Hush. Be still," Long Yin growled, startling Jin Lu into freezing.
Long Yin sighed dramatically before picking Jin Lu up and setting her down on the bed next to him.
Smack!
Jin Lu slapped her hand over her eyes loudly as the blanket revealed that Long Yin wasn't wearing any clothing. She wanted to yell and scream at how shameless Long Yin was but her voice was stuck in her throat. Jin Lu listened to Long Yin's footsteps as he walked to the bathroom door, not lowering her hand until it closed softly behind him.
Jin Lu groaned loudly, flopping back on the bed before glaring at the elevated space on her lap.
This is so annoying.
Jin Lu rolled off the bed to her feet, reaching into her bag for a change of clothes. Seeing the things scattered inside, she stopped when a thought came to her.
Long Yin opened the door to a feeling of deja vu. Jin Lu was sitting on the bed pulling different items from his spacial bag.
"Hey, do any of these things look valuable?" Jin Lu asked, waving Long Yin over with a serious expression.
Long Yin raised an eyebrow, curious what Jin Lu was thinking. He sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at the assortment of knick knacks scattered across the sheets. The black pearl that Jin Lu had resonated with caught his eye and he picked it up.
"This. It is a very rare pearl that resonates with a person's element and can help in cultivation. There are different grades and types of pearls, starting from a grade E to a grade SSS. This looks to be a grade C. A little high for you, but as long as you're careful you should be fine." Long Yin sat it next to Jin Lu before picking up a gold coin with strange images on both sides.
"This is an invitation to a prestigious auction house in Nepur, a neutral city run by the Wúshēng." He placed it next to the pearl. "The rest might get you a few silver pieces."
Jin Lu picked up the coin with interest.
"Do you know when the next auction is?" Jin Lu asked, thinking it would be interesting to see what this world had to offer.
Long Yin smiled, and a coin that matched the one between her fingers magically appeared in his hand.
"The auction is held every six months. We have a month until the next one." The coin disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. "We should be finished here by then, so we can go."
Long Yin smiled at the flash of excitement in Jin Lu's eyes before he got up and went to the room door.
"Pack that stuff up. We'll be leaving once you're done."
Jin Lu repacked everything she had taken out except the pearl, thinking that she could cultivate with it during the journey to Kuru City. Long Yin was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, taking her hand to lead her out the front door. A simple carriage was waiting outside with four ponos' hitched in front of it.
Long Yin opened the carriage door, helping Jin Lu in before nodding to the two men sitting on the box. There was another man holding onto the back, while two others were riding ponos of their own behind and to either side of the carriage, acting as guards.
Long Yin wasn't going to take any chances that Jin Lu would disappear again.
They made it out of the town without any issues as Jin Lu stared at the black stone in her hand. She remembered the melody she had heard when she had concentrated on it for the first time. Without realizing it, Jin Lu had tried to cultivate her darkness attribute when she had first met Long Yin. Later, she had used her air attribute to resonate with the music coming from the beast ward trees and create a shield.
It must have been then that Long Yin had realized what prize had fallen into his lap, and his plan to infiltrate the academy had changed. By using Jin Lu as an excuse, he was able to enter the academy as Jin Lu's guardian.
"If I hadn't shown up, how were you planning on getting into the academy?" Jin Lu asked Long Yin curiously.
"I was going to walk in," Long Yin said, as though it was obvious that he would get in regardless.
Just how much influence does he have?
The carriage jerked unexpectedly, throwing Jin Lu into Long Yin's arms. The pearl Jin Lu had been holding fell to the floor with a dull thud as raised voices came from outside.
"You in the carriage! Come out with all your goods."
"If you leave now, you won't die," one of the men sitting up front warned.
Snickers came from a few of the bandits, as well as the sound of swords leaving sheaths.
"You are the ones who will die if you don't do as we say!" The man who spoke the first time roared.
Jin Lu peaked from behind the curtain to see one of the men who had been guarding them sitting on his horse. Beyond him was a circle of roughly dressed men with bows, knives and swords, all ready to attack if the command came.
Jin Lu looked over at Long Yin to see what he would do, but his expression was the same as ever.
Twang!
The vibration of a bow string sounded from the other side of the carriage, signaling the start of the battle. Jin Lu fell to her knees on the floor, covering her head with her arms as the sound of steel against steel reached her ears from outside. The skirmish was over quickly, the quiet deafening to Jin Lu. A knock from outside the carriage door made Jin Lu jump and raise her head.
When Long Yin opened the door, the smell of spilled blood and other things Jin Lu didn't want to think about made her stomach twist and roll.
"A few minor cuts and bruises, sirs, nothing fatal. We will be on our way in a moment," one of the men from the front informed them.
Behind him the others were lifting the dead bandits and throwing them on the other side of the beast ward trees lining the road. Jin Lu felt bile rise in her throat, but she held it back by sheer willpower.
One of the bandits groaned in pain as he was grabbed by the collar and dragged over across the dirt. Something inside Jin Lu rebelled at the lack of compassion, and she stood up, stumbling down the stair to the road. Long Yin grabbed her around the waist before she lost her balance.
"Stop!" Jin Lu yelled at the guard, startling everyone.
Long Yin frowned, but escorted Jin Lu to the edge of the road near the two men. Jin Lu squatted down, a shocked gasp escaping from her lips. The injured person she had thought was a small man was actually a child. His eyes were closed and blood was seeping from a long gash across his chest.
"Leave… Leave the child with me. The men made their choice, but the child is mine," Jin Lu said to Long Yin, her eyes burning with tears and fury.
Long Yin stared into Jin Lu's eyes for a moment before nodding his head at the guards.
"Thank you," Jin Lu whispered to Long Yin before concentrating on the boy in front of her.
Though her feelings were boiling over, something inside was telling her that she could help him. Taking a deep breath to steady her mind, Jin Lu followed her instincts.
Closing her eyes, she could hear the footsteps of the guards, and the groans and curses of the bandits still left alive. Jin Lu slowly started cycling out the surrounding sounds, focusing on the child's erratic breathing. Her hand moved on its own, hovering over the gash in his chest as Jin Lu listened to something beyond natural hearing. Just like when she had resonated with the beast ward trees, Jin Lu was able to hear the boy's life, his rhythm. It was faint and broken in spots, but with her years of experience she was able to piece the missing parts together, making it whole.
Long Yin listened to Jin Lu start to hum as the air around the two on the road wavered, their images blurring slightly. The child's breathing started to become quicker before it calmed, his pale face gaining color as Jin Lu's voice started to fade. Long Yin's eyes were dazzled for a moment when Jin Lu smiled up at him in triumph.
"There are no other children, sir," one of the guards who had been riding behind the carriage stated. Jin Lu nodded before turning to glare at Long Yin. She had sensed fear coming from the guard and thought that Long Yin was intimidating them. Long Yin shrugged, his amused smile back on his face.
Jin Lu stood up and dusted the dirt from her clothes before she bent down to pick up the child. Long Yin stopped her with a hand on her arm, taking her place and lifting the boy up with ease. Jin Lu opened the carriage door for Long Yin, watching him lay the child on the cushioned bench after getting in.
The door closed behind Jin Lu as she tried to carefully sit next to the boy's legs. Long Yin grabbed her around the waist, lifting her up and settling her on his lap.
"Rest," Long Yin ordered, ignoring Jin Lu's glare. She sighed dramatically, grumbling about his high-handedness, before snuggling into his chest.