As the hours passed, Lian Yi’s hunger only grew larger, a constant reminder of the comforts she had left behind. Her stomach wasn’t rumbling yet, but she could feel the faint, nagging ache building up.
The luxury of being the Wind Flower Sects Young lady, despite its lower status, had still afforded her regular meals, five of them each day to be exact. By now, nearly noon, she would’ve already had breakfast and a mid morning snack, perhaps a sweet bun with a cup of tea or a bowl of fresh rice porridge. Out here, though, all she had was the dusty road and the faint sounds of birds chirping in the trees, as if mocking her hunger.
She stole a glance at Ahmad, who walked with his usual nonchalance, eyes half lidded and his flask bobbing on one side and his sword on the other. He seemed unaffected by hunger, thirst, or anything else for that matter.
She knew he was fully aware of the distance she’d insisted on covering the day before, his unhurried pace merely humoring her determination to put as much space as possible between them and the Hidden Blade Sect. It did feel like a shame to skip a full day of training but to Yi it was a price worth paying.
If her father truly had gone along with the plan to say she’d run away, then there might be people tracking them right now.
The Hidden Blade Sect could easily deploy their agents, and even her father’s most loyal followers might be looking for her, convinced they needed to bring her back to “safety.” Her father may have trusted Ahmad with her, but she doubted he’d want to share the reason for her departure with the entire sect. Trust only went so far, and the larger the group it was directed towards, the thinner it stretched.
Yi sighed, breaking the silence. "We’ll need to get food soon."
Ahmad raised an eyebrow, glancing over at her with a smirk. "Oh, are we? Didn’t take you for the delicate type."
She glared at him. "Needing food isn’t delicate. And it’s just… different out here, is all."
"Hunger will do that," he replied with a shrug, clearly enjoying her discomfort. "There’s a market in the next town over, it''ll take an hour at most. If you actually decide to train today, we can stay there."
“Another hour?” she muttered, though she forced herself not to complain further.
After all, she was the one who wanted to keep moving the day before. But now, after a night on the hard ground and no food all morning, her eagerness was catching up with her.
“Martial training’s as much about the little things as the big ones, you know,” he added. “Things like keeping a calm mind even when you’re hungry.”
“I’d keep a calm mind if I had breakfast,” she shot back.
Ahmad chuckled and walked a few paces ahead. And just as they crested a small hill, a commotion came to Yi’s attention. A horse drawn cart was parked on the road, with an older man sprawled on the ground holding his hands up in fear. Two figures blocked his path, and from their appearance, it was clear what they were.
Her stomach gave a lurch, “Bandits,” she murmured.
Ahmed’s face remained impassive. “In Sichuan? Considering they''re still alive, and based on their clothes, it must be their first victim, lucky him.”
Without a second thought Yi started moving forward, ready to help the merchant, but Ahmad outstretched his hand in front of her stopping her. “Why?” he said flatly while giving her a sidelong glance.
“Wha, what do you mean why? We must help him!” she protested, eyes fixed on the merchant’s frightened face.
Ahmad crossed his arms. “Just because someone’s in trouble doesn’t make it your job to save them. How do you even know it’s not his fault he’s like that?”
The merchant’s voice carried over the sound of the breeze as he caught sight of them. “Please! Please help me! I’ll pay you!”
The two bandits turned at the sound, their faces twisting into sneers. One of them laughed before calling out, “Oh, now you’re willing to pay old man? We only asked you for a few coins for passage and you wouldn’t even give us that. But now that you’re in trouble you’re throwing silver around?”
“I told you,” Ahmed murmured.
Yi glanced up at Ahmad, her eyes blazing with frustration. “You can’t be serious. We can’t just ignore him!”
“Sure we can,” Ahmad replied while scratching his chin. “Merchants make a living by taking risks, and bandits make even bigger ones by stopping them. He didn’t have and guards and wasn’t willing to pay, so i''d it’s his fault. That’s just how it works.” He looked at her, daring her to argue, but she held her ground.
“But if we can help, we should. I can’t just stand by while they take everything from him.”
Ahmad sighed, giving her a long, hard stare. “Go on then, they''re all yours.”
Yi felt the tension knotting in her chest. She understood the reality of his words, he wouldn''t help. The merchant’s wide, frightened eyes found hers again, his gaze pleading for assistance, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of obligation.
Without thinking it through, Yi called out to the bandits. “Leave him alone!”
The taller of the two, with a scraggly beard and a scar over his brow stepped forward while cracking his knuckles.
“Oh, a hero and his little assistant huh?” he taunted while swinging his sword seemingly at random. “You got a death wish?”
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Ahmed stepped back with a sigh. But he stayed close enough to observe.
Yi set her stance, her hand drifting toward her guan dao, though she didn’t draw it. “This isn’t a wish. It’s a warning. Leave him alone, and I’ll let you walk away.”
The bandits laughed and exchanged amused glances. The second bandit, a thin short man with quick darting eyes, drew a rusty sword from his belt before licking it. “This one’s got spirit! Let’s teach her a little lesson yeah? And let''s have some fun after we''re done!”
At that moment he suddenly got slapped at the back of his head, throwing him violently to the ground. “The fucks wrong with you?” Said the taller bandit, who was the one who slapped him.
The smaller bandit quickly recovered, clearly used to such abuse. “Intimidation you fool! You''ve ruined it! There''s nothing scarier than some crazy bandit who is trying to rape you, especially to a little girl like her!” He retorted, his voice doing a complete flip from crazy sounding to a completely normal one. “Ah fuck It, I''ll take the girl you kill this old bastard and get his money. Prepare to die girl!”
But before he could take a step forward, Yi’s body tensed and she jumped forward with immense speed, her guan dao already in her hand with the blade pointing the other direction. She struck the bandit with the hilt of her weapon to avoid lethal damage.
Her blow connected with the smaller bandit’s shoulder, sending him stumbling back with a yelp, almost making him spin.
The larger bandit growled, barely any time had passed, so he did not have enough of it to fulfill his task. He decided to ignore the merchant and started swinging his own blade toward Yi in a wide sideways arc. But Yi rolled to the side before springing back up to his right on the very opposite side of where his blade now was, her breath was steady, her movements quick and controlled.
The bandit was slower than her, his reflexes dulled by surprise, and Yi used his misstep to her advantage, slamming her foot into his knee. He buckled with a grunt, nearly falling to the ground. That was followed with a quick slam to the abdomen with her guan dao which made him crumple forward before falling to his knees, vomit coming out of his mouth.
When Yi saw the vomit she quickly back stepped to avoid any getting on her still decently clean clothes.
The merchant’s eyes widened with excitement, and he started inching back toward his cart, taking advantage of the situation.
The smaller bandit, noticing that she was distracted, grabbed his shoulder snarled and lunged at her again, but Yi easily sidestepped his attack. She struck the back of his head with the butt of her weapon, sending him crashing onto the ground and rendering him unconscious.
The larger bandit, still kneeling on the ground, he took one look at his fallen companion and then back at Yi, his eyes narrowed with fear and anger. “Fuck this,” he muttered, barely standing up and not even bothering to pick up his weapon, he started going the opposite way.
He shot one last glare at the merchant, then turned and hobbled away, leaving his partner unconscious on the ground. But before he could even reach the trees, Yi was upon him, and before he realized what had happened, he too fell unconscious to the ground.
“Not bad,” Ahmed commented while smirking at her.
Without acknowledging Ahmed''s words, Lian Yi turned toward the merchant, her expression softening as she realized the weight of the situation. He was still trembling, but there was a spark of relief in his eyes now that the threat was over. “I’m so sorry,” she said with a gentle voice. “I didn’t mean for things to escalate like that.”
The merchant, who had been hiding behind his cart, stepped forward as she spoke. His face brightened with gratitude, and he quickly pulled a small pouch from his belt. “Thank you, thank you so much!” he exclaimed, holding it out to her. “Here, please take this. It’s not much, but it’s all that I have.”
She looked at the pouch, but before she could refuse Ahmad stepped forward, plucking it from the merchant’s hands before she could so much as say a word.
“We’ll take it,” he said cheerfully, pocketing the pouch with a satisfied nod. He gave the merchant a casual wave and started walking towards the city, his mood clearly improved.
Yi apologized profusely to the merchant, who insisted it was okay. The merchant decided that if she helped him tie the bandits up, it would be good enough. He explained how these two might not be named bandits or part of any larger group, but the soldiers at the town he was going to would still give him some money for them.
They weren’t martial artists and were tied up, so the merchant assured her he could deal with them himself if they woke up. It took a while, but eventually she bid the merchant safe travels before running to catch up with Ahmed, who by now was quite far away.
As Lian Yi caught up, she shot Ahmed a sharp look, her irritation overpowering her attempt at a calm expression. “We didn’t help him for money.” she said,
“So?” he replied while smirking. “I didn''t take it, he gave it to us. If he didn''t want us to have it, he wouldn''t have pulled it out.”
Lian Yi sighed before narrowing her eyes at Ahmad. She struggled to swallow her objections.
‘It''s not worth it, he''s not worth it.’ She repeated in her head, trying to calm herself down.
Their walk continued, Ahmad’s unconcerned expression still the same, while the small pouch loudly announced its contents with every single step he took. Part of her wondered if he’d taken the money just to provoke her, to maybe push her to question herself. But after looking at the wine hanging on his belt, she quickly dismissed the thought.
“By the way,” Yi asked. “Earlier you mentioned something about the bandits in Sichuan with a hint of surprise in your voice. What was that about?”
“Well, You probably haven''t traveled much so you wouldn''t pay it much attention, but Sichuan is probably the safest place for merchants, at least when it comes to bandits in all of China.” Ahmed stated.
“Why’s that?” Yi asked while tilting her head with interest.
“Just think about it, you''ve got 2 great sects and the Tang clan all next to each other, the Qincheng and Emei sects pride themselves on helping the weak, and the Tang own quite a few merchant organizations on top of being a part of the Murim alliance, which makes them help people if only for the sake of their reputation. It''d be weirder if there were any bandits.”
Yi nodded thoughtfully while processing Ahmed’s explanation. Now that she actually thought about this, it made a lot of sense. Considering that the area was under the influence of multiple powerful sects, banditry would indeed be risky business. Yet those two had clearly taken the chance, perhaps out of desperation.
“Then why do you think those two were here?” she asked, glancing back down the road, where she had left the unconscious bandit behind.
“Idiots,” Ahmad said with a shrug. “Whatever their reason for becoming bandits, they won’t last long. Either someone like you shows up, or the local sects handle them, or worse case scenario, the soldiers get them. Regardless, the problem solves itself.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “You sure seem to enjoy playing hero, though.”
“I wasn’t playing hero. I just didn’t want to see someone get hurt for no reason.” Yi frowned. “And why did you say soldiers getting them was worse than the sects? I don’t know about the Tang, but Emei and Qincheng members wouldn’t kill them. Actually, wouldn’t they just turn the bandits in like the merchant would when he reached the town?”
"Pff," he chuckled, laughing for a good while before he spoke again. "You really think the guards are going to cover the costs for a bunch of nameless bandits who don’t even have any ki? Let me tell you straight, those bandits will end up as slaves, forced to work until they pay off that debt, if the commander has any decency, that might happen. But more often than not, they’ll work themselves to death.” He paused, his gaze hardening as he looked at her. "When a sect captures them, they spend some time in prison, nobody wants to ruffle feathers with a sect. But when it’s a merchant or anyone else without the power to back them up, it’s a different story. It’s hell. You didn’t help those bandits by sparing their lives. You sentenced them for life, or at least for however much of it they still have left.”
Lian Yi stood frozen for a moment, her mind racing as she processed Ahmed''s words. The weight of his statement pressed on her, a chill creeping through her chest. Her gaze dropped to the ground, and she clenched her fists, the truth of what he said hitting harder than she expected.
Her thoughts tangled. She had wanted to save them, wanted to believe she had done the right thing. But now, the possibility of a life worse than death, one filled with endless toil and suffering, loomed before her. She thought of the bandits’ faces, and for the first time, doubts gnawed at her heart.
Her stomach twisted with unease, and she could feel the heavy silence in the air. Lian Yi swallowed hard, despite having drank some water not long ago, her throat was dry. The weight of responsibility, the crushing realization that her actions had consequences beyond what she could comprehend, made her feel smaller than ever before.
"I..." She hesitated, her voice barely above a whisper. "I didn’t... mean for it to turn out like that." The words felt hollow, like they couldn’t possibly be enough to undo what had been done. “Maybe… Maybe i can still catch him and explain that we should release them. Just let them—”
Ahmed cut her off. “Let them go so they can rob a different merchant? They lost their weapons, probably the only thing they could have exchanged for a piece of food. Now they have nothing, which will make them even more desperate.” He was looking straight at her, but she didn’t look at him. Her gaze remained fixed on the ground, as if staring at the earth might offer some kind of answer.
For what felt like an eternity, she stood frozen, her mind racing in frantic circles. Every time she tried to come up with a solution, it fell apart for one reason or another.
Finally, Ahmed’s voice broke the silence, “Come, you''re not you when you''re hungry. The city’s not far. You can be miserable about it over a bowl of pork rib soup.”
Without waiting for a response, he lifted her effortlessly in his arms, cradling her as if she were lighter than a whisper. With the sun still high in the sky, he began walking toward the city, carrying her away from the chaos of the moment.