"I thought you lived in the palace or close to it." YunYun was a bit surprised.
"Why would I live there? There are way too many people around, but here's perfect. I can watch the most beautiful sunrise in the city and I have the most perfect training conditions you can imagine." Nick explained, "Tomorrow I'll take you around the Royal woods – it's a fantastic place as well."
"So you simply train here, alone?"
"Yup! Some years ago Zia was doing exercises in the morning with me and we dived in the reef with the boys. But other than that I practice alone."
"And no one teaches you?" She knew the answer, but still found it unbelievable for him to reach the current level while self-learning.
"No, but it doesn't matter. The only thing I need to develop is my Wakizashi style and there is no one who can help anyway. Everything else is just a Qi or physical practice, basically nothing much to teach."
"What about the 'battle trance'? Don't tell me you figured out how to achieve it." It was the common knowledge that a good teacher could propel student to new heights and, in fact, Nick would definitely agree with her. It's just that his situation was a bit specific.
"Actually I did right after we spoke about it the first time." He mysteriously smiled.
"Why are you always playing games with me?" She pretended to be angry and Nick laughed at her 'king's impression' and YunYun immediately joined as well.
"Alright, let's leave it for now. I want some tea and usually in the evening I practice alchemy. Do you want to try it? It helps to train Qi manipulation quite a bit and also increases sensitivity to Qi."
They drank tea and right after Nick gave her the first lesson in alchemy in a similar fashion how the grand elder taught him back in the day.
They didn't notice how time flew by when two hours later someone called Nick from outside.
"Nick! Come out!"
They dosed the fire that was used to heat up a primitive healing paste and went out. It was already dusk, but they could still clearly see the guest.
"Queen Hua! Nice to see you!" Nick politely greeted her highness in confusion. Zia wasn't here and there was no reason for her to come.
"YunYun! Alex told me that you're here." Queen didn't pay attention to Nick and approached the girl while talking in the dialect of the Eastern continent, "There is no need for you to stay here, come to the palace."
"Thank you, queen Hua, but I'm fine here." YunYun smiled and politely bowed. She didn't want to have this encounter right now, but there was nowhere to run.
"What queen Hua?" Queen furrowed her brows, "Call me aunt and let's go!"
"I'm sorry, aunt Hua, but I would like to stay here with my fiance." YunYun blushed.
"What?" Queen was shocked, "Him?"
She pointed her finger at Nick and seeing YunYun nodding asked, "Did he trick you? I don't believe with your sword skills he could've defeated you."
"No, we didn't fight." YunYun blushed even more, "And it was my initiative."
"Why?" Queen really couldn't understand. He was skillful and smart, but not 'that' good, right?
"Well after he saved my life I understood I want to marry him." YunYun clumsily tried to explain.
"He saved your life?"
"Yes, when I was paralyzed and dying, he breathed the force of life through his mouth in mine and by putting his palms on my chest he managed to make my heart beat as well …" Her explanation was a bit of a mess for a person who was not present at the time and her aunt already didn't listen to her anymore.
'Boom!'
The blushed and confused Nick barely managed to lift his hands in defense when he got kicked right in the chest and flew over twenty meters through the air just to crash in a tree.
"You pervert! Ever since 'that' day I knew you were a pervert!" Queen Hua was overflowing with killing intent. Luckily she didn't draw her sword at this moment or Nick would've died multiple times over.
"I'm going to kill you!" Queen Hua was clenching her fists and took slow and heavy steps towards him, but for some reason she arrived before Nick in a heartbeat.
'Boom!'
Nick didn't even manage to get up when another kick launched him in the air and he crushed through few more trees. Luckily, he managed to block both attacks with his wristbands and protect his body with Qi, bit still several bones were fractured and he ached all over.
"Stop!" YunYun woke up from stupor and dashed towards queen Hua and managed to hold her back before she made another attack.
"Don't worry YunYun! After I kill him, your honor will be restored!" Queen was red from anger, YunYun – from blushing and Nick – from pain.
"No, auntie, please stop! He is not a pervert! I just don't know how to explain it properly!" YunYun was almost hysterical as she hugged queen Hua while trying to stop her, "It's some technique that can bring a person back to life – CDD or CPP! Please let him explain, he had developed many techniques and is really smart, but definitely not a pervert! He even refused to marry me before I turn eighteen! And he refuses to cultivate Qi with me using the new secret technique where we have to touch each others hands!"
"Hmm?" Queen finally stopped and hissed at Nick, "Alright! You'll have one chance to explain yourself!"
Nick's sorry figure barely managed to stand up. He weakly approached the two women, but when they thought he will start the explanation, he just passed them and went towards his cottage barely being able to lift his feet.
Queen Hua was startled for a second, but then got even more angry, "Didn't you hear me? Explain!"
Nick stopped and slowly turned around. He looked at the queen with angry eyes and shouted back, "F*ck you! F*ck you and your explanations! What the hell is wrong with your head? You have known me for more than five years and suddenly start kicking me around simply because someone said something that you didn't like and that might not even be the truth? I have treated you and your family with respect, made huge contributions to this kingdom and after all am the best and only friend your daughter has! And you just fractured who knows how many bones in my body! And maybe even broke few as well! F*ck you and your explanations … to think that I even helped you back in the day …"
He was angry and upset. It was not even a question of misunderstanding, but a simple abuse. If it was some kind of enemy he would've been on guard and could've tried to run away. In a life and death situation he thought he even had a chance to run from a Qi master like Ling, at least for a while, but this crazy woman wanted to kick him to death for no real reason.
YunYun and queen Hua were shocked speechless. It was already a death sentence to speak to the Qi master Hua that way, not mentioning her queen's status.
"He … he didn't mean it …" YunYun tried to salvage situation, even when there was no hope.
"Damn it!" Queen Hua angrily kicked a nearby tree and it broke in halves.
This time she was angry at herself. Being an accomplished Qi master she lost her composure as if she was a random drunkard in a tavern. And all those things Nick said were correct, in addition, she felt indebted to him for taking care of Zia and training her in an amazing fashion.
She caressed YunYun's head and whispered, "I'll try to make up for it in some way."
YunYun, who was scared out of her wits just a second ago, now was confused and even shocked. This day had too many ups and downs for her emotional stability already before the queen's arrival and, even if she had always been strong and brave, the dam was suddenly broken and she started to cry. She did want to embrace queen Hua just to feel some human closeness, but wanted to hug Nick's sorry figure as well. But at the same time she was afraid the queen will change her mind if she showed any affection to her fiance. Thus she stood there and silently cried, tears rolling down her beautiful face while clenching fists, angry at her own helplessness.
"Don't be like that!" Queen Hua hugged her, "I'll apologize. It'll be fine."
YunYun got startled again. 'Queen will apologize? How does that even work?'
Few minutes later Nick was trying to wash himself near the cottage with his face grimaced in pain while YunYun kept bringing water over.
"You see, when YunYun told me what you did I got really angry." Queen stated the obvious and Nick glared back at her.
"That's the worst apology of all times!"
"But how should I have felt when someone violated my niece?" Queen got upset. Nick's answer wasn't exactly polite, but her apology deserved that.
"Your nice?" Nick dropped the bucket of water on his foot, but his brain was still processing the implications and didn't have time to react to the pain signals from the lower extremities.
"Didn't you hear her calling me 'aunt'?" Queen was surprised.
"I … I just thought she had to call you like that because … because you both are easterners …" Nick stuttered.
"Hahaha!" Queen finally found a way to release her stress and laughed out loud till tears filled her eyes. Only after couple of minutes she finally calmed down while the two youths looked at her with upset faces, each for different reasons, "Why didn't you tell him your mother is my sister?"
"I wanted at first, but it felt good that he didn't know ... because he liked me simply ... because … everyone at home tries to flatter me because I'm a princess, but he treats me like a person, like we are equals." YunYun blushed again while stuttering.
"Haven't you noticed? He treats everyone like that! He orders everyone around here, sometimes even the king!"
"Yes, I saw that today, it was a bit funny." YunYun finally relaxed and giggled.
"Sigh, let's have some tea." Nick was still upset, but there was nothing he could do. He had to bandage himself and think of a herbal bath that could hasten his recovery.
"First, tell me – what was that technique of you breathing in her mouth and touching her chest!" Queen got serious.
"And how can a cup of tee obstruct the explanation?" Nick glared back at her and went inside.
Both Li family ladies were sitting at the small table while Nick boiled the water and ground herbs. He was grimacing in pain, but still persisted.
"The technique is simple and complicated at the same time. The concept is based on the principle that when person stops breathing or even when their heart stops, they are not dead yet and, in some situations, can still be revived – just like YunYun in this case. She was poisoned with a venom of the spotted jungle spider. It keeps the person alive while paralyzing all their muscles and at some point that includes the heart. Person is alive for ten, maybe twenty minutes and can see and feel everything, but can't move even their eyeballs. Thus, the only way to save her and to prevent her from having future disabilities, was to continue to provide her with air and make her heart continue pump the blood, while removing the poison at the same time. So every minute I breathed in her lungs approximately four times and pressed her chest down to squeeze her heart approximately sixty times. It's close to how a body of an average person works. At the same time I quickened the effect of antidote using Qi and, when her heart started beating again, threw her in a detoxification bath and helped to circulate Qi a bit more. Soon after she could do it by herself and that was it."
"Aunt, I understand that technical description sounds simple, but you can't imagine how it is when you know you will die and someone breathes the life back in you and … then your heart starts beating under his palms because of his efforts …" YunYun was blushed and tried to clumsily explain her feelings again, but this time queen Hua understood.
"That's not simple at all!" She was shaken to her bones. The idea was understandable, but there were too many nuances. And to perform this under extreme circumstances while using Qi to activate the antidote … and he was not an experienced Qi master, but a young boy! And YunYun ... it was no wonder she instantly fell in love! Judging from her explanation the queen understood that any girl would fall in love with her savior in a similar situation. The anxiousness, intimacy and closeness to the person who 'breathes the life in you' or 'makes your heart start beating again' while you are conscious and expecting yourself to die … was out of this world!