Every individual had something that they valued above all others. Sometimes it could be material, an item or a family heirloom. Or it could be a concept, a moral code to guide them by. For Liu Han, it was a promise. To him, once a promise was made, it was never to be broken no matter the cost. His very existence was based on a promise, the very first he had ever made back as a child when he had watched his father and mother die, alongside everyone he had ever loved in the ruins of their destroyed hometown. His parents had taught him never to make a promise that he could not keep. Once he made one, he ought to walk through fire and storm to fulfill it.
Even his life now revolved around the conjoined pactpact he had with his 'brothers'. He regarded them so because they had all gone through the same ordeal he had, had suffered the same pain and had the same life goal. So he carried them along with him to face any and every obstacle in their path to avenging what they had lost. As far as Liu Han was concerned, loyalty and sacrifice were the two essential virtues of life. Loyalty to one's friends and never letting them down, sacrifice of oneself for the greater good.
It was this determination to keep his word to Liling that had him searching the entire festival grounds looking for her. After he had found neither hair no hide of her, he decided to search the rest of the village, house by house if he had to. As he passed a corner where a female musician had just finished her performance, his sharp eyes caught sight of an explosion of green light in the sky. Fireworks going off in the sky would not be out of place in a Chinese festival, taking place at night for that matter, but what had sparked his interest had been the location of the explosion. The fact that it had occurred over an area that was not part of the festival arena had pushed him to investigate. On his way there, he noticed the absence of the shady presences he had seen during his search earlier hanging around the festival area. That, added to the mere thought that Liling might be in danger, fueled his protective instincts as well as his speed.
Arriving just in time to see the girl he had promised his protection surrounded by armed men closing in for the kill, had the unfortunate effect of sending his already edgy instincts into overdrive. Covering the distance between him and Liling in mere moments, he reached the ground fast enough to deflect the machete blow from the first thug with his spear that he had subconsciously drawn from his back. Less than a second later, the spear had already cut another arc through the air, this time drawing blood from the thug's neck and ending his life.
There were no words to describe the relief he felt with the knowledge that the girl behind him was still unharmed. Glancing back at Liling's recoiling form, Liu Han saw the jumble of emotions in her eyes. She must have thought he would be looking for her, otherwise she would not have known to send out that signal. But the gravity of her situation must have caused her to despair regardless.
"I told you," he said gently as he tilted his head to look at her. "I will always protect you no matter what."
The approaching crowd stopped their movement to stare at the newcomer who had disposed of one of their own within seconds of his arrival. The sternness in his handsome face coupled with the amount of killing intent radiating from him sent a wave of consternation through the thugs. The man who was their leader returned to the forefront of the crowd to see why they had stopped advancing and came face to face with Liu Han. His expression scrunched up in annoyance at the intruder who stood in between him and a hundred thousand gold coins.
"Who are you?" He asked roughly with the intention of intimidation.
Liu Han spared him only the briefest of glances before completely ignoring him on favor of placing a comforting hand on Liling's shoulder and asking her if she was alright. She nodded affirmatively, since none of the men had actually hurt her yet. His interference had prevented things from escalating any further. Just as he made to ask her another question, he saw her eyes widen and the hairs on the back of his neck tingled in warning.
On instinct, he tilted his head to the left whilst pushing Liling to the right, allowing the sneak attack launched at him from behind to pass in between them harmlessly. Using the blunt end of his spear, he knocked the hilt of the machete out of the thug's hand to disarm him. Then he twirled the spear once and plunged it straight into the thug's heart. Without wasting any time, he ripped the weapon out of the man's chest and began his assault on the group encircling them.
The first person he met had his sternum crushed by an elbow strike from Liu Han. As the man staggered back, Han sliced open his throat and moved on to another thug, this time opting to thrust his lance through this one's torso. The initial shock of watching their colleagues get murdered so easily soon wore off and the rest of the crowd attacked wildly in a bid to overwhelm him with their numerical advantage. They failed woefully. What Liu Han lacked in numbers, he more than made up for with superior strength and skill. His attacks were precisely aimed at vital parts of the bodies of his opponents. Each stab and slash delivered fatal wounds that sent spewing onto the ground.
Liling watched on as Liu Han delivered his onslaught and her mouth loosened slightly in awe at the incredible although a bit sickening display. She had seen him train on his own before but seeing him in a real fight was another thing entirely. His way of fighting revolved around an excellent combination of his unnaturally high speed and rapid reflexes to administer debilitating strikes with his razor sharp spear. One by one, the men fell to his blows until there were only four left.
They dashed at him all at once, swords raised high above their heads. Liu Han disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in their midst. Pivoting on one foot, he spun clockwise with the spear and severed all the weapon-holding hands from their owners' wrists. Screams rang out through the silence of the night as they clutched at their bleeding stumps in pure agony. The cold look on his face never changed as Liu Han twirled his upper body and cut down two of the men at once, then he clamped his hand around the neck of the third one. A quick twist of his wrist followed by a sickeningly audible crack ended his life. Han tossed the body at the last remaining thug who fumbled to catch the heavy load. Before the man could recover, the red tip of the spear pierced through his neck.
Liu Han removed the spear, leaving the man to bleed out on the ground to his death. He looked up at the man who had recruited the men he had just finished decimating and pointed the spear at his face in a challenge. The thin man stepped back and drew a sword that had been concealed in a sheath within his cloak and assumed a stance.
Both men moved at once, their weapons colliding repeatedly with shrill clangs. There was no doubt that both were aiming to kill, but their individual prowess canceled out each other's attempts. As they fought, Liu Han observed that the man was actually very well versed in the use of the sword. His technique reflected his temperament; a furious and relentless intended to pressure his opponent into submission. Had this man been facing any regular swordsman, the challenger would have been defeated very quickly.
Unfortunately for him, his current opponent was no regular swordsman, nor was he a swordsman at all. But that did not mean he was not knowledgeable in such matters. One did not have someone as skilled as Chulai Khan as a teammate without picking up one or two things.
The man struck low towards Han's legs but the latter blocked the strike with his spear's shaft and pushed the blade up past their heads before landing a kick on the man's chest. He staggered back, his hand clutching the dusty area where Han's foot had made contact and growled angrily. He had not expected the first hit of their fight to land on him. Upon coming to the realization that his opponent was a skilled individual, he decided to take the fight more seriously and began to increase the force behind each swing of his sword. His blade sought out all the tiny miniscule openings in Han's defence looking for an opportunity to deal a fatal blow. The lancer blocked and parried continuously and let the man push him back a few meters.
Finally deciding that he had seen enough, Liu Han resolved to end their battle decisively. The man swung his sword in a vertical slash to bisect Han who feinted a block with the lance before rapidly switching to the weapon from his left hand and used the other to knock away the blade from its original trajectory. Then he slammed the blunt end of the spear into the man's clavicle, breaking it immediately, and stabbed the point of the spear into the man's thigh down right through until it came out the other side. The man grunted in pain and knelt on one knee but Liu Han was not done yet. With a quick downward moron, he sliced open the man's kneecap, then used the shaft to smack the man backwards to the ground. Appearing beside the downed gang leader, he raised his his spear to impale the man's chest but a small hand touching his shoulder prevented him from adding to his already long list of murders that night.
He turned to meet Liling's pleading eyes. The way she looked at him and the tension in her hand as she held him back told him all he needed to know. For some reason, she did not want this man dead despite the latter's intent towards her earlier.
"Are you sure?" Han asked pointedly. "He will come after you again you know?"
She nodded and removed her hand from his shoulder. "Yes, I know. But he can only try. He won't be able to touch me until we finish this mission, right?"
Liu Han closed his eyes and sighed tiredly. He had gone through all this trouble to rescue her but she would not even let him finish the main person who had planned to hurt her. She was even using his own promise against him for that matter.
He stepped away from the man and flicked the blood off the spear before returning it to its place on his back. Dark eyes filled with malice stared down at the gang leader and he warned the man never to approach Liling ever again, promising him a slow and painful death if he did so. Then he took hold of the girl's hand and led her out of the dark alley that contained the dead bodies of all the people who had been unfortunate to have crossed his path.
As they crossed the village to meet up with the rest of their group, Liu Liling found herself adjusting the way she viewed Liu Han. He had come through for her when she had thought he would never make it. Apparently she had underestimated the lengths the white haired man would go to keep his promises. She would not make that mistake ever again. Liu Han had proved himself that night. It warmed her heart to know that someone as blessed as Han found her so valuable.
Her most recent dream came to mind out of nowhere. She compared Liu Han to the white tiger that she had seen and soon realized that both were more similar that she had thought.
Maybe there was a connection between them that she had yet to discover.
A fluttering feeling deep within her told Liling that she would find out if she stuck around long enough.