Gonna live this life as the Heroine Villianess

🌑 Chapter 14 🌙

So it turned out, the book wasn't useless. It was actually quite useful, and it was a lesson to her that she shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Quite literally. Acupuncture, as trivial as it seemed, was a very ancient and advanced art, and Wren found, after many hours of endless struggling to read Liyue characters- was worth learning. She found that the many points of the body were placemarks for mana, and putting pressure on them would stop the flow of energy- causing temporary paralysis. It was great, because it meant she didn't need to get any blood on her hands. A/N to all my friends in the ATLA fandom- ty lee? But to be honest, she never really used that skill, although it had merit. The book was a hidden treasure chest for forgotten methods that dated back to the archon war, including one that wreaked havoc among  both enemy and ally lines... and this one in particular was her favorite.

And it would be especially useful tonight, Wren thought as she looked out from Liyue harbor, watching a large ship being loaded with suspiciously large boxes, big enough to hold people. In fact, they were. Children, to be precise. Human trafficking was not an uncommon practice among the much shadier parts of Liyue; not all the money that flowed into the city renown for its wealth was clean, after all... thank god she had been tipped off by one of her clients- then she would at least be able to help some children back to their families.

In the past four years, Wren had been slowly making a name for herself in the underground of Teyvat, branding herself as a successful vigilante and bounty hunter. Not an assassin, no, although she had to admit she did sometimes kill for the extra mora... but she would only take the lives of those who deserved it. Not the innocent, never the innocent. What had they been calling her? Wren didn't know, she had so many names now she had forgotten them all. But out of them, her favorite had to be Ghost. Although it definitely wasn't original, it did suit her- she had a tendency to get the job done and then disappear, as quick as a flash. No one ever saw her face, and she liked to keep it that way. Well at least, her real  face... Wren looked up at the bow of the ship, where a long, black ribbon swayed gently in the wind. Her calling card, the so called death flag. Find one on you door knocker, or stuck under the window frame of you house- and you were dead the next morning... how the crew had missed it, she didn't know. But if they had, then they deserved what was coming.

Flicking down the mask on her face, she leapt down from the storage box she was perched on and cloaked herself, hitting a crew member in the back of his neck with the palm of her hand as she passed. He fell to the ground, a surprised look on his face. Smirking to herself, she went on on her way onto the upper deck. Now standing in the middle of the deck, Wren took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Searching. There, in one of the furthest boxes- the thoughts of terrified young children, their minds less mature and foreboding then most adults. She sped towards it, knocking out the man guarding the opening and setting him down beside her without a sound. Then, she  lowered her cloak and slowly creaked open the door to see a small group of around seven children huddled in the back corner of the box.

At the sight of her, one of the youngest began to tear up. Oh no- please don't cry- please don't- she thought. It must have been scary, to see a masked stranger in even stranger clothing to show up when you had already been through more trauma then some people had had in a lifetime. (She hoped that no one else had been kidnapped when they were young, like she had been.) "Hey, hey- it's okay..." Wren pulled off her mask, pulling her braid out from her shoulder. She gave the child a sweet smile, beckoning her forward. The girl hesitated, but inched closer. She was holding a ratty looking teddy bear, which she hugged tightly to her chest. "...Were you scared?" The girl snuffled, giving a small nod, her pigtails bouncing as she did. Wren couldn't help but laugh as she was reminded of the anime children she had seen back on earth... "I'm gonna get you out of here, alright?" Her eyes swept around the storage box, landing on a pair of children. One she recognized as Klee- what was Klee doing all the way in Liyue? And the other... she couldn't quite remember the other, but something about his orange head of hair was familiar. Could it be...?