I was simply unable to respond, despite my best attempts, as I was too busy trying to control my laughter from escaping.
'Walking into a lion's den and asking the lioness herself if she's seen her husband recently, this poor stupid soul.'
For the first time in a long time, I felt a smile trying to surface on my face, but I was able to control myself to maintain my business professionalism and trust.
However, I was still unable to hide my curiosity completely.
"Why are you looking for him?" I asked, trying to understand the motives of the strange boy hell-bent on seeking death, receiving a surprisingly aggressive response from the young man.
"I am here to buy information, not to sell it."
Before I could move to teach the boy some manners, my guards went to complete the job themselves, considering it was what I had paid them for.
Still, I wanted to have some fun of my own to satiate my frustrations, but I was stopped in my tracks by the thick killing intent that filled the expanse.
It was suffocating.
It felt as if I had just stepped onto a true lion's tail, awakening him from his slumber. He was now fully awake, ready to devour those that challenged him. Cold sweats started running down my back.
This strength, this hunger, 'it's exactly what I've been looking for.'
Using all the willpower I had, I stopped myself from cackling out loud, at least until he left.
"Wait, I'll give you the location," my response placated the man, "You'll find him there."
I wrote the boy some confusing directions on purpose, as I needed enough time to get back to my master before he could. I used the underground tunnel system to cut the time needed for the trek by a lot, thankfully reaching my master first.
'If he's gonna ask him what I think he's gonna ask him, then I have to play it safe.' I told my master about my encounter and that he would soon have a student of extraordinary talent seeking instruction under him.
'I can't let him catch on to my intentions.' Thus, I presented it as if I heavily disliked the idea of the boy becoming a student under him.
With my past record of not liking to share my training space, my master didn't think anything of it and brought up the idea of letting Miss White decide the boy's fate.
I wasn't too worried as even if the boy turned out to be more of a dog person, I could just tell my master that I had changed my mind and ask him to accept the boy due to his talent regardless. 'It'll be a bit suspicious sure, but I'm sure I can come up with a convincing excuse to have him accepted.'
My worries were misplaced, however, as even the feisty little bugger wouldn't attack him, going so far as to sit in his lap.
'Really you harlot, and to think each time I so much as tried to pick you up you'd hiss and try to scratch me.'
"You can come meowt now, Xiao Li," I heard my master's voice prompting me that my plan had worked out perfectly, "see, even Miss White agrees, it's two against one."
Still, I had a part to play.
"Chee," I clicked my tongue, further cementing my attitude towards the young man into my master's mind.
It seemed the young man in question wasn't as stupid as he looked, as just by my voice, he was able to recognize me instantly.
"So you were the one who sold me that confusing information. Do you know how long it took me to find that tea stall with all the other ones around it?"
It seemed I gave the young man the wrong impression due to my attitude as well, but I could not correct his misgivings in front of Master Shikai Bun.
Thus, I played into my character even more, choosing to get into an argument with the young man before my master finally put a stop to it.
"So, explain to me what you currently know?" my master asked with expectation, hoping that he had another pawn that might be able to fulfill his dream.
And the boy, who was apparently named Kuzan, didn't disappoint. The more he spoke of his training at the Temple, the more excited my master grew, not that he would let it show.
But I could tell. After having spent all these years next to him, I could tell just how excited my master was at being the one to have 'found' the young man.
His enthusiasm was cut a bit when the kid mentioned that he had another master who would be teaching him in tandem.
I could tell my master was about to advise the young man against it, but when the young man dropped the name of his supposed teacher, 'ho, I don't think I've ever seen grandpa that excited before'.
My grandfather gave the young man some training materials to prepare for the lessons that he would soon take under him, as the boy was apparently currently busy training under another master of Kung-Fu and wouldn't be free till next week.
I decided to tag along, under the guise of wanting to help the young man carry back all the training equipment up to the mountain top, my true reason of course being that I wanted to clear the air between us.
I needed the young man to like, no, at least not hate me if I ever wanted him to fight Shobun. Due to his talent, I was sure that he could even become the next Supreme Kaiou, but that would only achieve my master's dream without fulfilling mine.
I need him to fulfill my request, thus I needed him to like me... or not.
"What are you hiding, Kuzan? And who's this girl?" a short blonde girl, with a face so beautiful as if something out of a fairytale suddenly popped out from behind me.
It was honestly a little scary having been caught off guard, despite being a master of stealth myself. 'Is this another one of the masters at the Temple? Perhaps a member of their secret stealth squad?'
I was broken out of my assumptions, however, by Kuzan's introduction of the talented little girl.
"...And this is my sweet little sister, Melissa. Now come on, be friends."
I was definitely not expecting that, still determining if I had been lied to by the young man in an attempt to cover up the secret identity of this hidden master of the Temple.
But again, it seemed as if my worries were unfounded, as she truly was just a sweet little girl.
"How did you sneak up on me?"
"Hehe, I can teach you if you want! But you have to teach me how to tie your hair like that, it looks so cute!"
I was honestly blushing a bit at such a comment being uttered from the mouth of such an angelic girl. Even with all of my training, I couldn't help but be nice to the girl, "Sure!"
"By the way, do you like candy, Xiao Xiao?" she spoke with stars in her eyes, a face full of pure innocence. It was a bit startling, I didn't know there was something so cute, so pretty, so sweet left in the world.
'She gave me a nickname, my first nickname! I have to give her one back. Think Xiao Li, think, give the best nickname to this girl you can think of.'
"Of course I do, Milli!"
"Good, I'll share a bunch with you. I have a whole stash hidden away in my room. I can even teach you how to get the most candy from those grandpas..." the girl continued wiggling her way into my heart with her sweetness.
Her pure outlook on the world was contagious, despite being similarly naive at the same time. But still, it was beautiful.
One could even consider it a dangerous weapon, perhaps being the most dangerous assassination technique currently known to man. It seemed as if this girl had the whole Temple wrapped around her little finger, while at the same time being completely unaware of the power that she possessed.
The infamously strict and disciplined grandmasters of Kenpo, known throughout all of China, were all being controlled in the palm of her hand.
'It's frightening honestly, I mean she even got the current Supreme Kaiou, the embodiment of Chinese martial arts, to act in a children's skit apparently.'
You couldn't judge the girl by her strength alone, she had mastered the art of 'seduction' at such a young age, I would even consider her a master tactician. If she received the proper training, she could perhaps lead to more destruction than even an atomic bomb.
'I mean come on, she's even tamed that beast of a brother.'
Again, I was surprised by the girl, especially at the relationship she had with her brother. It was the most counterintuitive thing I had perhaps ever seen to date.
No matter how much she annoyed him, no matter how much "harm" she unknowingly caused her brother by her seemingly innocent actions, he would never so much as lay a finger on her in revenge. Instead he would always treat her with love, always sharing his sweets with her, even going so far as to lie to her about his own well-being to keep her happy and unconcerned.
The difference was startling,
'Why couldn't I have had tha-'
"Xiao Xiao, are you ok?" I heard a worried voice of an angel cut off my thoughts.
"Huh?" I asked aloud, while wiping away the liquid that had unwittingly made its way onto my face.
"Why are you crying, Xiao Xiao?" The girl continued to grow more and more concerned, even pulling me into a hug and refusing to let go until I told her the reason for my sudden shift of mood.
"It's gonna be ok. Tell me what's wrong, I promise that I'll help. Was one of the grandpas at the Temple mean to you? Tell me which one, I'll make sure to tell Master Shifu about-"
I stopped the girl from continuing to rattle on, perhaps even saving a few of the old martial masters' lives in the process, by pulling her into an even deeper hug.
My heart melted at her concern, and I finally let it all out onto the confused girl's shoulders, who despite not knowing what had happened, continued to console me.
After who knows how long, I was finally able to get a hold of myself and left to go somewhere private for a bit, leaving the poor girl standing confused at what had just occurred.
However, it seemed as if the impression of privacy simply didn't exist for this little girl, as she barged into my room by simply 'kicking down' my unlocked door, having brought some company with her.
I was about to start yelling at the girl for having disrupted my peace, despite knowing full well how unfair I was being to her and that she was just trying to help.
I was stopped in my tracks, however, by both the look of pure worry in the eyes of the young girl's face, as well as by the appearance of the person she had brought for support.
"Please Xiao Xiao, this is my Aunt Lizi. I'm sure she can help, she always helps me when I'm feeling down or lonely-"
I was currently tuning out the young girl's explanations as I was too busy staring at the flowing red hair of her supposed 'Aunt'.
'It's her! I certainly did not expect to meet her like this.' It seemed as if I had let my emotions show on my face due to my current instability, as the woman widened her eyes in realization about my identity.
I dreaded the next words that would come out of her mouth, fearing that I would soon lose the only friend I had ever made.
"You poor girl," the woman strode across the room, pulling me into the deepest bear hug she could muster, "it's gonna be alright, I promise."
"I'm fine truly," I didn't need her continued words of consolation, as I had had enough time to think and get a hold of my emotions again, "I was just a little upset before."
"And why's that?" the woman asked, still not releasing me from her tight grasp.
My mind worked furiously to come up with an excuse, knowing full well that every second spent trying to come up with an excuse would only increase the unbelievability of my next lie.
Thus, I prioritized the speed of giving an answer over its quality, "I just got a little bit jealous since Melissa always gets so much candy from the elders at the Temple."
"Ara ara, is that true?" the woman asked while finally releasing me from her hug.
"Yes-" my response again being cut off by the little girl's concerns
"I'm so sorry, Xiao Xiao. I didn't know you felt like that," my heart aching at the lie I had just told, "don't worry I'll make sure to share all of my techniques with you. By the end of the week, you'll have more candy than you can even finish!"
I didn't have it in me to break the heart of the girl again by revealing my lie to her, so I just nodded in response.
And so began the first training session I ever truly enjoyed, marking the start of a journey I would come to embrace for the rest of my life.