heaven officials blessing: Long ai edited

quite a night.13

He moved to the centre of the table to look directly into the bright red curtains, where Honger resides.

"Since that is the case, please let me give it a try." brother stepped forward, hands together, and looked to the curtains. I side-eyed Qing Xuan. In their hands were the cup and dice.

"By all means, sir." A-yoong said it with a friendly smile. My brother was about to roll when I saw A-Yoong flinch. "wait."

"Hmm?" I looked at her. She still had a friendly smile.

"The Lord has mentioned something peculiar." She tuned her head to the side slightly with a mischievous look in his eyes. Her hand was raised to gesture towards Honger. "It seems that you are not using the correct cup-shaking posture."

"correct... posture?" brother questioned. I smirked under my mask. I know what Honger is up to! You lucky little butterfly! "Then may I ask what the correct posture is?"

"The Lord has asked for you to come up." A-yoong began to walk down. I could hear murmurs behind us. I wish I could say go get him at the top of my lungs, but I have to stay composed.  "He is willing to teach you."

Oh, I know he is not about to do what I think he is about to do. A-yoong knows this.

"Sir, if you wouldn't mind?" I looked past her, and I could see that Honger was sitting on the edge of his seat. Go for it, flower sword! I side-eyed my brother as he took the cup in his hands and made his way up to the curtains. Silence filled the room. The steps leading up to Honger were just ahead of us. turning my eyes to A-yoong. She was already watching me. The sooner Honger and Flower Sword get their moment, the sooner I get to be with A-Yoong. I saw a set of hands reach out and take hold of Flower's hands. I could see the red string on his left middle finger. I could see his nails were painted black. rings were on both middle fingers, and dark sleeves were attached to the rings. I couldn't see much of his outfit since the curtain blocked my view of the rest of it. I looked at A-yoong, and I felt my heart soften like it always did when I stood before her so many years ago. I began to think of the day I met her.

thirty years ago now. New Xianle was founded for about two hundred years at that point. I saw myself doing my rounds with two individuals in dark cloaks, hiding their entire bodies in white masks that represented demons with their faces painted black. a crack on the inner side of the temples. Gloves and high boots covered their hands and feet. I heard someone scream close to our vicinity. I signalled for the two to stay close. They know the drill. Stay close, but out of sight. We leaped from tree to tree. I stopped above a girl who was half limping, half crawling away from something. She had her raven hair tucked back in a low ponytail, her dark skin painted in blood and dirt. Her shirt was off-white and torn. Blood and dirt caked the fabric. Her pants were dark, but still torn and clearly soaked in blood. Her shoes were dark boots too. I could hear her crying and whimpering from pain.  I saw a man rushing towards her with a blade in hand. He was dressed as an assassin. He was so close to striking her down when I leaped from the tree. With a single slash, the man was cut so deep into his chest that he died instantly. I looked down at her. She was shaking so badly and almost crying. I heard more people coming this way. Kneeling to the ground, I prepared to lift her into my arms.

"Don't... hurt... me," she whispered. i froze. Did the man chasing her cause these injuries? I looked closer, and she was covered in bruises, cuts, and dirt, and an arow must have been shot and cut her spleen. I brushed her hair out of her face. She looked up to me. I removed the mask from my face, setting it on the side of my head. I looked at her with a sad expression. She looked into my eyes. She wasn't scared anymore. I lifted her up in my arms. My hand was hooked under her knees, and my other hand was bracing her back. I looked into her dark, crimson eyes. She knew I wasn't a threat.

"Girls," I called. The two attendants travelling with me leaped from the trees before me. "Take care of the people behind us."

They ran after my sentence. I ran towards home. The forest was thick and difficult to navigate if you were a traveller. but it doesn't go too long. My armour kept me safe from the incoming sticks and flying rocks coming from the sharp turns through the gravel and rocks. She held onto me with a tight grip. The trees and rivers were speeding past our view. With a leap high into the trees, we gained the perfect view of a large kingdom. It isn't as nice as the Xianle kingdom or the buildings in the heavenly capital, but it was enough to keep families dry and warm at night. stone and wood forming the kingdom of New Xinle.

"Welcome home," I told her as we remained in a tree overlooking the kingdom. I looked at the young girl in my arms, who was roughly nineteen or twenty years old. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at the kingdom. formed from misfits, abuse, and brokenness.

"Hey!" I blinked my eyes. taking me back to reality. Lang Qiang Qiu shouted from above. I saw A-Yoong's face morph into anger. "Stop shaking it! He's obviously lying to you! There's no such thing as the correct posture! He's definitely cheating!"

"be, quiet!" A-yoong shouted so loudly that the floors and walls shook. She swung up her whip and latched onto his right arm with a bright red flame. He began to scream in pain. A-yoong was beside me, close enough to take hold of her arm and stop her. "Try and talk sh*t about Hua Cheng again; I will not be so merciful!"

She detached the flame whip from his arm and turned back to the front. I glanced at Qing Xuan, who was wide-eyed and pale. I turned my head to look at Kohana and Kiyoshi, who both had this shocked and intimidated face. I looked back at A-Yoong. She looked annoyed and ashamed. I adjusted Zuko so I could hold him in one arm. I let the other hang beside A-yoong's. I reached my pinky out to hers and brushed against her hand. She flinched for a moment before glancing at me. I gave her a gentle smile from beneath my mask again. She gave me a grin, wrapping her pinkie around mine. ahhhhhhhhhhh! Why do I have to wait to yank her into my arms?! I look back to my brother and Honger, who were still shaking the dice in the cup. They are having their moment. I felt giddy and jumpy in my heart. Goodness, I feel like we are having our first date all over again. Zuko was just watching the Hualian duo up there while everyone murmured and started shouting insults at QiangQiu.

"San Lang," I could hear my brother say to Honger. He sounds almost helpless. "Let's stop here. The next round will determine who wins."

"Wait." Honger stopped the flower sword from shaking the dice again. "Gege, you still haven't said-"

Honger looked into his brother's eyes, from what I could tell. "What will you do if you lose?"

"Oh," I squeaked as I heard him imply, "what will you do for me?".  hah! I heard some ghosts murmur about Honger calling the flower sword "gege.".

"Um..." I saw the flower sword start to dig through the bag he's been carrying around. Wait, is he digging out the bun he was eating earlier? "I only have this left—an unfinished bun."

"sure." Honger smiled from what I could see from here. He's fine with at least something Xie Lian has eaten, and he will probably go through with an indirect kiss with it. "Then it will be this bun."

The room went quiet so fast.

"What's the meaning of this?" Qiang Qiu asked with an insulted tone.

"It's better than leaving you!" I called up to him. The room began to erupt with laughter. I looked at A-Yoong through the corner of my eye. She shifted closer to me with a smile on her face. She slipped her hand into mine, tangling our fingers. I couldn't help but smile. I heard the cup and dice clang for the final time.

"oh?" Honger reacted as the dice were removed. I have paid little to no attention to their gamble. So I don't know how much romantic energy has been erupting from these two. That's when I realized we would have to leave, and A-yoong would stay in Ghost City while I went back to locating the earth master with the others. "I lost."

I gave her hand a squeeze. I don't know when I am going to see her after this. It kind of hurts to think about us being separated again. Applause echoed in the den.