Lady Rose Vine seethed with disdain upon hearing her brazen challenge. She stood up from her seat. "Tao Geming, state your purpose here! Do you intend to protect these women?"
The man in question gave her a look as though she was stupid, silently rejecting the notion.
"Then they will die!" Sun Jia declared. She gestured to her subordinates in attendance, and some of them rushed off. The intruders were taken outside, to a walled off courtyard with thin, sparse grass. Lady Rose Vine's attendants brought forth a massive whip which they had to carry in as a pair, roughly twenty feet of thick hide studded with iron. Sun Jia took hold of her weapon and glared impatiently at her foe. "Fetch your weapon. It would be undignified of me to strike you down while you're still unarmed."
The Golden Witch rolled her yellow eyes. "Disciple, lend me your sword."
Liao Lan hurried to oblige. As she gave her the weapon, she whispered. "Be careful, master. There's poison on that whip."
When the disciple rushed off to the side, their fight began without any additional fanfare. The enormous whip spun in Sun Jia's hands with terrifying alacrity, stirring up a fierce gale. The woman maneuvered it with light gestures as though it was both weightless and merely an extension of her limbs, its oppressive trajectory cutting off all paths of approach. At first she controlled the whip from the middle, but after a few light steps forward, her grip suddenly moved to one end. A deafening crack erupted through the air as its massive length came down upon the golden haired woman.
The iron studs smashed into the earth and crushed it to pieces, spewing dirt and dust all over the place. The Golden Witch avoided the attack with a deft sidestep. Sun Jia was swift to recover from her heavy attack, and once again the whip twirled all around to close off all openings. Another attack arrived without any delay. Just the whip's thunderous crackle set all the observers on edge, as though the sound itself carried enough weight to feel dangerous.
The strike missed again. The Golden Witch's footwork was difficult to follow, as though she was shifting around without even moving her feet. Liao Lan remembered this well, and her heart quivered as she recalled the fear she felt when she was on the receiving end of her skills. She found it inexplicably thrilling to observe the mysterious woman's feats from the side. Despite some of Liao Lan's previous boisterous words about their relative unimportance, martial arts were still an indelible part of her life. Inevitably, she was enthralled by the action unfolding before her.
Finally, the Golden Witch attempted to approach. Sun Jia's eyes widened. The blonde woman ducked beneath the first lap of her opponent's spinning whip. Lady Rose Vine adjusted her grip, and the next rotation her foe had no choice but to jump over. Sun Jia assumed that it would lead to a fatal mistake, a checkmate and the end of the fight, and yet the Golden Witch had somehow forced herself to land before she was due, long before the fatal strike arrived. Not only that, she darted back out of Lady Rose Vine's reach before the rotation was complete.
The Golden Witch hopped over towards a tree. Her fingers pried off a long and thick vine growing over the branches, and with her sword she cut off a length to roughly match her opponent's. She then discarded Liao Lan's sword. The vine in her fingers straightened and spun in imitation of the enemy's style.
"Stupid monkey." Sun Jia exclaimed, her brows furrowed. She stepped forward, intending to assail her foe once more. But the Golden Witch suddenly brought the vine down upon the tree, and the sturdy bark parted before it as though it was water. The spectators gawked with wide eyes as the upper half of the trunk collapsed to the ground. Sun Jia maintained her grimace, but sweat ran down her brow as she witnessed the spectacle.
Lady Rose Vine brought her whip down on her opponent's head. The Golden Witch's improvised weapon lunged at hers like a snake and struck it cleanly out of the air. Sun Jia's slender wrists groaned as they struggled to bear the shifting forces at work, and she only barely kept hold of her whip. Not only that, but she was able to wrangle back her control over the weapon and send it to parry the Witch's vine just as it was about to lick at her body.
Both of them drew back their whips for just a moment. Their assaults began anew, and their inevitable clash in the air took place once more. This time, Sun Jia's attack was deflected in such a perilous manner that the steel-wrapped tip of her own whip came crashing down onto her head. The woman gritted her teeth and tried to dodge. Before she could manage that, the green vine wrapped around the falling iron and dragged it away. The weapon in her hands, which shook ceaselessly after the repeated impacts, had been pulled out of her grasp.
But even once she had been disarmed, the Golden Witch did not relent. Her vine slithered towards her enemy and delivered a resounding slap across the face. It had none of its tree-felling might; but it was still strong enough to send the woman reeling, fighting to retain her footing as though she had been overcome by a bout of drunkenness. Sun Jia crumbled into the dirt, nursing the bright red mark that ran up her cheek.
"I surrender." She hissed through gritted teeth.
"You were right." The Golden Witch said. "This really was a waste of time. Even this disciple of mine could have humbled you in combat. To be honest, I don't understand why she lets you run your mouth about her like that. The two of you should just settle it here."
The fury in Sun Jia's eyes ascended to an entirely new level.
Liao Lan was terrified beyond reason. "Master, what are you saying?! Please don't make these jests!"
Sun Jia raised herself from the ground. "Unless your master is willing to take back her words, you're compelled to stand by them. And I can't see that dignified woman suffering such a disgrace for the sake of a wretch like you."
"I'm not taking anything back." The Golden Witch reassured. "Do it, Liao Lan. I'm not going to help you."
Liao Lan fell to her knees and pressed her head to the ground. "Lady Rose Vine, I wouldn't dare! It was gracious enough of you to allow me to live beyond the valley! I know I'm not your peer, there's no need for this! Just over a few careless words, you don't need to..."
"Get up." Sun Jia demanded. "I've been waiting for this opportunity for a really long time. Oh, I can really think of no better way to vent my ire."
But Liao Lan remained where she was. When Sun Jia's shadow loomed over her, she began to shiver. Suddenly, someone rushed to her side and gripped her shoulders.
"Grandmaster is right!" Shao Luli urgently spoke. "I've seen you fight so many times, I see your battles in my dreams. I know you're faster and stronger than her. Even a hopeless amateur like me can tell. Please get up, master! Please show her!"
Sun Jia chuckled. "Had she spent her life working on her martial arts within these hallowed halls, maybe she would be able to stand a chance against me. But her weak character forced her out into the harsh world beyond our valley. What hope does she have, having squandered so much of her life on worldly frivolities?"
"She's right." Liao Lan muttered. "Little Lu, don't anger her. She had nothing to do but to perfect her techniques her, while for the longest time, I had to struggle just to survive. Grandmaster's words have nothing to do with you. Just get back. I order you!"
Sun Jia set the tip of her red shoe upon the back of Liao Lan's head. "Since she intends to play the part of a bug, I'll just crush her sick head beneath my foot."
Shao Luli hurled herself onto the woman's leg. "Get away from her!"
Sun Jia's limb snaked out of her grasp before getting brought back down onto the young woman. The kick sent her tumbling across the ground. Liao Lan trembled as she heard the events unfold. Shao Luli stubbornly crawled her way back to her master's side and bodily shielded her prone form.
The yellow eyes trembled as they watched the scene.
Sun Jia shook her head. "You stupid, pitiful girl. I admire your strong sense of loyalty, but it could not possibly be more misplaced. I should have killed her while I still had the chance. Now you've been brought here and forced to suffer. When I look at you, all I see is an innocent victim. As compensation, after I rectify my mistake, I'll allow you to live within the Fairy Spring Valley. You're still young, so I'm sure you'll come to terms with your mistake."
Shao Luli turned her gaze towards Sun Jia. Her tearful eyes were filled with scorn. "And when I look at you, all I see is a jealous hag! That crime of hers that you keep parading, since you were forced to let her leave with her life, it couldn't have been all that severe, and you just can't stand it! Crippling her progress was the most you could do. And even that wasn't enough, because my master is still stronger than you!"
Sun Jia ground her teeth. "I've changed my mind. The only compensation you deserve is a shared grave!"
Shao Luli turned away from her. "Please, master, come to your senses! I know you can defeat her! Show us! Please let me see the Unrivaled Heroine I love so much!"
Sun Jia's arm lunged towards the girl's neck. The dark robed figure crumpled on the ground suddenly rose. Her elbow smashed into Sun Jia's forearm and knocked her lethal fingers off their intended path. That same arm then straightened, grabbed Shao Luli, and tossed her back out of harm's way. Lady Rose Vine leaped away.
"This is the one thing I'll never allow you, Sun Jia." Liao Lan declared. Lady Rose Vine snorted in response. Neither of their weapons was within their reach, so they assumed the stance of their sect's unarmed style. Though at a passing glance their stances appeared to be the same, there were subtle differences that made them drastically different in practice. Lady Rose Vine clung to her relentlessly drilled traditions. Liao Lan's stance was softer, free flowing; her own. Her tear-reddened eyes burned with fierce determination.
The two women stepped forward at the same time. Their two figures blurred as they thrust out towards each other with their arms. Liao Lan's limbs were a little shorter, but Sun Jia was a little slower. In the end, it was speed that reigned supreme. Liao Lan's first strike sealed one of the meridians in the other woman's striking arm, and though her attack connected as well, by the time it made contact, it was rendered completely ineffective. In the blink of an eye, the Unrivaled Heroine dealt her a hundred more blows.
When she concluded the sequence and turned away, Lady Rose Vine crumbled.
"That's... not our school..." Sun Jia sputtered.
"It's a trick I picked up on the road. Forgive my crude form." Liao Lan intoned her apology in ruthless monotone. She helped her disciple back to her feet. The injury she had suffered made it hard for her to stand.
The golden haired master breathed a sigh of relief. She took out the sword wedged into the earth. "Liao Lan." She called out, tossing it over to her.
Liao Lan deftly caught it into her hand. The bare steel glinted temptingly in the sunlight. She glanced back at Sun Jia's helpless body. Liao Lan thought about it for a long time, but eventually decided to sheathe her weapon.
"Just do it!" Sun Jia screamed. "I don't want to live with the shame of having lost to the likes of you!"
"You made me live with my shame." Liao Lan replied. "It's only fair."
When it became clear that the battle was over, the girls of the Fairy Spring Valley rushed over to help their sect master. But it would be many hours before her meridians would be unsealed.