Without taking a moment to think her next actions through, Liling began to speed-walk in an effort to get away from the man. The latter, suspecting foul play, called the two men with him and they pursued her. Liling increased her speed and began to push past people roughly, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to see the men still coming after her determinedly. Panic began to creep into her mind as she realized that she had stolen from the wrong people. If they caught her, there was a very good chance that they would turn her in to the local guards who would in turn hand her over to the Imperial Guard and that would mean either of two things: life imprisonment or execution. Neither of the two were exactly pleasant to her.
The man Liling had pickpocketed kept his eyes trained on her rapidly retreating form, his face set in an angry scowl. He had not worked for long hours under his merciless boss only to have his pay stolen by a young thief. Still... the finesse and ease with which the theft had been performed gave him an odd sense of familiarity but he could not identify the female rogue with any of the vagabonds he was familiar with as he had not gotten a good look at her face. He shoved his way through a family of four and continued without remorse. Seeing that he was about to lose sight of the girl, he signalled the two men with him to alert their colleagues who also worked under him to block all the street exits and entrances so that they could surround the thief.
His plan worked well. The girl was fast on her feet and her movements were not amateurish at all. But she did not know the layout of the village well enough to avoid walking into deadends. They cornered her into a lovely alley between two buildings with no way of escaping without having to go through them. And she did not need anyone to tell her that going up against more than a dozen well built thugs all armed with sharp blades without a weapon or an iota of fighting skill would end in a very quick death.
So Liling did the only thing she could do. She pulled out a thin rocket-shaped firework and lit it with a match she found in her pocket. The rocket shot up into the sky directly above her and exploded in a single bright flash of green light that lasted only a second before disintegrating into thousands of small verdant sparkles. The area where they had cornered her was not part of the festival grounds but she hoped it was near enough for Liu Han to have seen the exploding firework.
The encroaching crowd of thugs parted down the middle and the man whose money had begun the whole chase stepped forward. The moment the two of them locked eyes, a wave of recognition hit them both, soon followed by a devilish smirk on the man's face and a feeling of dread settling uncomfortably in Liling's stomach. She knew who this man was. He was perhaps the only other person she wanted to avoid even more than the Imperial Guard. This was the person who had introduced her to the underworld of the society and had acted as her manager of sorts when she had been stealing for a wide spread dangerous gang. She had only remained with them for a few years before her desertion. But that alone was not why she was suddenly scared stiff. Her fear was that of retribution. Looking back at that time, exposing the gang's secret warehouses to the Imperial Guard might not have been the best way to say goodbye.
On the night following her departure, legal authorities had stormed the gang's secret stashes in multiple provinces, courtesy of an anonymous tipoff.
Liling had not stuck around long enough to find out what had become of the difficult situation but she knew enough about her former employers to be aware of the fact that her life was already forfeit should they regain possession of her.
"Liu Liling," the man said slowly, making sure emphasize each syllable in her name. The ugly smirk on his face spread, as if he was genuinely happy to see her. "I thought I recognized that skill. But you seem to have gotten a bit sloppy. The Liling I knew could have taken a man's coat of his shoulders and he'd never notice anything."
"That Liling is gone," she retorted with far more bravery than she truly felt.
"Alright then. I won't argue with you. But you know, that little stunt you pulled when you ungrateful scum ran away cost us quite a lot to settle. The boss was already mad enough that one of his best agents had suddenly disappeared into thin air, next thing he knew, he was facing down several simultaneous raids on all our major stores. Not exactly the best way to say thank you to the people who once called you 'family', is it?"
Her eyes narrowed in the darkness. "My family is gone and you people meant nothing to me. I was little more than a tool for you–"
"And that was where you belonged!" The lean gangster bellowed angrily. "I took you in, raised you in the only way someone with your gifts should be raised and you repay me with abandonment and disgrace!"
His words cut deep into her skin and Liling felt her resolve falter for a brief moment. She knew how true his words were, despite how much she might not want them to be. Taking a cautious step back, she hardened her heart and tossed the money she had stolen at his feet.
"Too bad for you then, because I don't care about you, not anymore at least. Take your money and leave me alone."
The man looked as it he had been slightly surprised by her statement. Then slowly, his former grin returned, darker than before. He kicked the money bag aside to one of the thugs and fixed Liling with a glare so intense that she could practically feel his annoyance from where she stood.
"Oh no, I don't want my money back. With you here, I'm not going to be needing this paltry amount for much longer anyway. All I want now is to settle some scores on behalf of my boss."
"What scores?" Liling asked, desperate to keep him talking for as long as she could. The longer their conversation lasted, the more time Liu Han had to find her, assuming he was coming at all.
The gangster put his hands behind his back and leaned back on his heels in an unperturbed manner. "You haven't heard yet? There's a new bounty available on your head, placed by your old boss. He's even more sore about your actions than I am. Sore enough to guarantee a hundred thousand gold coins to any living breathing creature capable of delivering you to him, dead or alive."
Liling nearly lost her footing at those last words. The last thing she needed right now was another bounty on her head, from a crime boss nonetheless. Now even if she made it out of here alive, as unlikely as that was looking, she would barely be safe no matter where she went.
"So now what? Are you going to tie me up and haul me all the way to him for a big sack of gold?"
"Actually, I'm more inclined towards the 'dead' option. As much as I'd like to see you get tortured to death, I prefer to settle my grudges personally," he said menacingly. Turning his back on her, he waved his hand casually to the men with him. "Bring me her head."
The thugs moved towards her on his command, brandishing broad razor sharp machetes that gleamed silver in the night light. Liling backed up until she felt the coldness of the tall wall that ended the alley. Her heart throbbed ceaselessly in her chest and sent blood rushing through her body. The adrenaline rush that followed was nice and all but without any useful combat skills, there was very little it did for her. Looking around, she realized that there was no single opening in the encroaching murderous crowd before her. Her eyes flashed from their blades to their hard faces filled with malicious intent all directed at her. Feelings of helplessness creeped into her mind and she felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead. This was not how she had envisioned her death. And certainly not at this age. She had not even lived out her life fully yet and here she was about get lynched by a mob of thugs for a stupidly huge amount of money.
The next thought that came into her mind was unexpectedly centered on Liu Han. For a reason she could not understand, the image of the moment she had first seen him in that field refused to leave her mind's eye. His movements surpassing that of every fighter she had ever seen, with that beautiful yet surely deadly spear of his.
Maybe it was because he had promised to protect her and she had been foolish enough to actually trust him. She had forgotten the first thing she had learned the hardness of life: to never place that level of trust on anyone but herself. And now she would pay dearly for disregarding that rule. Death approached her in the form of multiple sharpened blades yet what stung the most was the fact that once again she had fallen for the words of another liar.
The first thug lunged at her and swung his blade straight at her neck. She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the cold touch of metal against her neck and the numbing pain that would precede her death.
But nothing happened. No coldness, no pain no blood, nothing at all. Rather all she heard was the sound of metal clanging forcefully against metal, followed by a quick swish of something swinging through the air at high speed. The thug fell backwards with a loud cry, his blood spraying forth from his body. Liling opened her eyes just a fraction to see what had happened and her hazel colored eyes widened on their own at the scene before her.
Less than three feet array away from her, Liu Han was there like something out a dream. His body was set in a slight crouch, like a tiger protecting that which was most precious to it. His long spear was held tightly in his right hand at the middle of its shaft, its ornate metal head covered in red viscous liquid from where it had cut open the thug's neck. Crimson droplets filled the air and the smooth sound of his voice reached her ears soon after.
"I told you," Liu Han said over his shoulder. "I will always protect you, no matter what."