Okay! As a warrior or a commander at high, the last thing you want to experience is waking up and seeing your whole army dead and piled up like stacks of bean bags but some scenarios are just not explained.
The four great commanders woke up to the stench of blood and the most horrible sight a man could imagine. Their whole army had been killed. Men stacked up on each other and covered with blood like a stack of pancakes covered with syrup. It was dark but they could see well enough as most part of the camp was covered in fire but that wasn't all; the tents that had once been a minor residence for the late warriors now bore messages with them.
Though written in the Chinese language, the message read; ~From his slumber, he has awoken, a detriment to all and to the Celestial king's most beloved, beware for war has come~
The words were engraved on each tents, written with blood that possibly belonged to dead warriors.
The Li commanders stood agape unable to take what was before their eyes. What was more frightening? Was it the massacre of their entire army or the chilling possibility that if the message was true, a terrible nightmare from the past was about to take the limelight?
"This.. this can't be," Li Kang spoke in bewilderment.
"The entire army's dead," Li Zhu said shocked beyond imagination.
"This is unbelievable. The Black knights retreated, could they have done this?" Li Wei asked. His heart pounded within him.
"And the Dark Lord? It couldn't possibly be him...right? It mustn't be.." Li Ren was simply afraid. Not quite expected of a commander as he was but when the Dark Lord was just merely mentioned, even king's and emperors of all clans and dynasties were shaken.
Let's have a mental picture of him shall we?
You see the Dark Lord was a powerful being even referred to as the Devil's most beloved. He wielded the darkest magic you could ever think of. He read your thoughts, his dark, evil eyes pierced through your soul and could easily detect the slightest flaw. He killed without blinking, he trusted no one. His army was made by him. He created them and what horrible creatures they were; without hearts and terribly looking they were. It's no wonder the Imperial army soldiers were glad to have them off their chests even though the victory was short-lived. And his connection with the Celestial King? Let's leave that as a task for you to find out.
The Commanders had never been in such state of shock as they were now. The truth was proving to be plain but it was too fearful to be believed.
"How do we explain this to the Emperor as well as father? That we had been asleep while our army had been wiped out by heaven-knows-what." Li Kang spoke outrageously. This was definitely doom spelt out for them.
"And what of the message? What if the Dark Lord has broken free? What are we to do?" Li Ren trembled.
"We pray to the Heavens that that shouldn't be the case else the gods have mercy. We'll be doomed!" Li Zhu stated frightened as he spoke each word.
"Oh we definitely must pray but my thoughts exactly are how do we curb the current situation at hand? Our jobs as well as our lives are on the line," Li Kang said outrightly.
The thought of their lives being withdrawn from them caused them to shiver.
"I think the best thing now is to return to the Imperial palace and report this. We will tell them the Black Knights attacked us unexpectedly and in greater numbers than before, which led us to a great disadvantage and the soldiers were killed," Li Wei manifested a plan, "and if we're asked why we weren't killed in the process, we will simply say we have no clue as to why they kept us alive other than to relay the message afterall it's not farfetched from our current situation."
The brothers seemed to agree and reason with this exquisite script of lies. That was the best they could do anyways.
With all said and agreed, they mounted their horses and rode out away from the 'abattoir' of a camp. Did they care about the pile of wasted humans laying dead behind them? Ofcourse not, they had bigger issues on their plates.
Will their genius plan work for them without them getting exposed? We'll find out about that.
Let's drift back to our 'love birds' shall we?
"Apart from the Lis, no one normally comes here and I have never let anyone else here before but.." Li Jun said as they walked through sheds and passed through gates on their way to where Huoqiang had not the slightest clue about.
"And you trust that much Master Jun that you show it to me?" asked Huoqiang puzzled.
"Hmm.. let's take it part of the tour alright?" Li Jun said to her.
Huoqiang nodded slowly whilst looking at her host with searching eyes.
"All that been said and done, I present to you my most favorite place in this little home," Li Jun announced.
Huoqiang couldn't quite grasp what he was talking about till she twirled around and her eyes met the most fascinating scenery she would never forget in a hurry.
A beautiful wisteria tree, lavender by colour, stood beyond the back gates. Its vines had grown quite enormously and stretched great lengths. The tree itself stood in a beautiful flowerbed of little wisterias of different colours. This was definitely a sight to behold. The bright lights around added more glory to the tree. The wisteria tree seemed to attract all entity of lights towards and thus, was the center of attraction.
Even at dawn, colourful butterflies hovered over the enormous magnificent tree and the pretty flowers surrounding it.
"This is beautiful!" Huoqiang gasped in amazement and wonder.
"You like it miss Huoqiang?" Li Jun asked quite pleased with the delight on her face.
"I definitely do. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it," Huoqiang gazed at it in wonder mouth agape, "it's marvelous. It's really beautiful."
"You think so?" asked Li Jun
"I know so. This is very fascinating. It's...no words could describe it's beauty...."
Just the same way I feel about you, was the thought in Li Jun's mind..
"I'm glad you find it appealing. Care to look inside?" Li Jun ushered Huoqiang in.
"Really? You'd let me go in?" Huoqiang asked surprised.
"Ofcourse it's your tour remember?" He said and led her into the grand courtyard where the wisteria stood.
"This was my mum's favourite place," Li Jun said, "she used to run round this place, spin and whirl around with the wind."
"Just the same feeling I have now," Huoqiang said calmly.
"Feel free then," Li Jun said.
"Master Li Jun?" She gasped out the name, "I couldn't..."
"Go on. I don't mind," Li Jun urged her on.
She nodded thankfully and without thought she dashed through the flowers and at the wisteria tree. She danced around it, whirled as the evening breeze did, her blonde hair flipping over soldiers, her misty eyes looked most happy with excitement and for a minute, Li Jun thought he saw his most beloved woman, his mother.