"It wouldn't be a training with Lady Qui Lin if she didn't have an explosive finish." General Ho said and then began to clap. So the entire room was filled with the sound of his clapping.
"Don't patronize me General Ho." Qui Lin said, then turned to Judith, who stifled her breathing when she saw Qui Lin looking at her. "Get me a glass of water." She said to Judith.
Standing a bit dazed for a moment, Judith acted like a spark of electricity when she realized herself. Then she bowed and ran off.
"What do you mean patronize you?" General Ho had asked, leaving the comfort of the wall and making his way toward her, who in turn was making her way toward the corner of the room, where her red robe was waiting for her.
As of now, she was wearing a black crop top with equally black trousers. Her red hair, which was packed into a bun, came loose during her training and hung from her back like a waterfall of flames.
General Ho couldn't help but admire her lean but ample figure. If he hadn't decided to be a ladies man his entire life, he would have settled down with this goddess, if she would accept him.
"You act as if my strength can go toe to toe with a Sapphire ranked enemy. But in reality, I'm practically useless." Qui Lin took her robe off its hook on the wall and began to dawn it.
"Are you still upset about the Parabeast you fought in the desert?" General Ho had asked, and in that moment, Judith froze at the door with the tray in her hands.
'Did she tell him about me?' Judith wondered, as the General spoke of the desert. Realizing herself, she walked forward and made her way toward Qui Lin.
Upon reaching her, Qui Lin immediately grabbed the glass on the tray and gulped its contents down. After she was done, she turned to the General feeling salty.
"That desert was just a reminder General. A good one, because it would seem I had forgotten how far I've fallen." Qui Lin said, then walked over to another corner of the room with the General by her side, while Judith was left to follow behind.
Walking behind the General and Qui Lin, Judith stared at where they were going, and found herself taken by the lifting platform neatly tucked away at the corner of the room.
'What was it called again? Ah right, a Levate.' Judith thought with a mix of excitement and nausea coursing through her. But she kept these emotions at bay and stepped onto the Levate along with Qui Lin.
"How far you've fallen?" The General responded, stepping on the Levate as well. It wasn't as spacious as the ones Judith had been on thus far, which was why she found herself nudging closer to Qui Lin as Zin Ho joined in. "Let's be serious here, you never were any stronger." The General said with a smile.
"I'm well aware," Qui Lin retorted, then focused her attention on the Levate, and within the second, it began to rise. "But some time ago, I used my transformation to compensate for my lack of strength. I hate that I am unable to do so anymore."
"On the contrary, I'm quite glad you can't anymore." General Ho said, a teasing tone in his voice. As Judith stood there, an aura of discomfort had enveloped her, making her feel like a third wheel.
'Let the singles breathe.' Judith thought with an eye roll. Forgetting for a moment that she was still in trouble.
Without any other word being uttered, the Levate had reached its peak, so it stopped ascending. Now, they were in a new room. This room was not as wide as the other two rooms, rather, it felt quite cramped. There were shelves on every corner with scrolls of varying kinds. Scrolls were even littered on the ground here and there, and there was a desk at the end of the room, surrounded by even more shelves of scrolls.
Most of the shelves towered so high, that Judith saw a smaller Levate stationed near each towering shelf, so as to enable Qui Lin reach the scrolls at the top without having to do some strenuous of parkour.
The desk — like every other thing in the room — was filled with scrolls and mildly tattered.
This was the first time Judith visited this room. Qui Lin had told her to never enter this room without her say so. The reason being because there were important documentation in this room, which was confidential to only her. And also, she liked that she knew where everything was, and did not want someone rearranging everything for her so that finding what she needed would become a nightmare. If such a situation were to arise, she would just burn down the whole room in annoyance.
Thinking on this made Judith shiver a bit, then almost froze when she remembered she was still in deep trouble. At this point Qui Lin was a ticking time bomb ready to go off on Judith.
"So you like me being weak." Qui Lin said, stopping Judith from thinking and making her way toward her desk.
Judith followed behind her and then stood beside her when she sat behind her desk.
"Weak?" General Ho laughed a hearty laugh. "You could never be weak. You're the Crimson Goddess for crying out loud."
"Just forget it General, when I'm face to face with a Sapphire ranked Parabeast, or even higher, then you'll wish I was as strong as I used to be." Qui Lin said as she picked up a scroll. Not wanting to let the General speak, she added, "But that doesn't matter, tell me why you came to see me."
The General meant to comment on her strength, but then sighed and did as she asked.
"After some time of investigation, I have discovered the Beifong gang are in leagues with Kanli Wan, head of Kanli enterprise." Upon hearing this, Judith couldn't help but feel mildly angered by this discovery. Of course she knew this was going to happen, but the fact that she knew this gang was helmed by a very king man, who had admirable agendas, made her not want them to go through any ordeals whatsoever. And getting a crucial member of their gang imprisoned, was one of such ordeals.
Judith let out a quiet sigh, before continuing to stand in the corner and act as though she wasn't there.
"Kanli Wan?" Qui Lin said with a hint of astonishment in her tone. "I suspected as much. So you want clearance on raiding his facility then?"
"I do Lady Qui Lin." The general said, now speaking in a very formal tone. As though he wasn't casually talking to Qui Lin only moments prior.
Picking up her seal, Qui Lin placed it in an ink pad before stamping it on the scroll. After which she rolled it up and handed it to the General.
"You have your clearance. Make sure you don't disappoint." Qui Lin said likewise with a formal tone.
"I won't Lady Qui Lin." The General said as he took the scroll in his hands. Looking at it for a moment, then glancing at Qui Lin who was already busy with other pieces of documentation, he meant to say something, but thought against it. Then he turned, "I'll be off now. I'll report back once we have arrested Kanli Wan."
"I'll be expecting your report." Qui Lin said, while intent on her documents. The General made his way to the Levate, then turned around to face Qui Lin as he was about to descend.
He watched her with a gnawing feeling in his heart, but he didn't want to act on it. With nothing else to say, he activated the Levate and then began to descend.
Judith felt for a moment the pain that was evident in General Zin Ho. She could obviously tell he was longing for Qui Lin just by his disposition alone, even without being told by her novel. But one thing she was never told was if Qui Lin knew at this point in time, or she was just oblivious.
Of course this thought process was abruptly brought to an end when Judith realized she was alone...with Qui Lin. Following this realization and like a jab with a knife, Qui Lin spoke.
"You are hours late slave."