I'm really not the Saviour! (我唔係救主囖!) [danmei/BL xuanhuan]

33 - I love you, don't hate me.

CW: panic attack, LGBT anxiety

***

Wong Tang returned the next day. She brought with her several senior disciples of the Mount Faa Sect and a squad of loong soldiers.

"That was quick, Master," Gou Dzing observed, as he greeted his fellow disciples.

"It wasn't. There's a time distortion between here and the mortal realm," Wong Tang chewed compulsively on the end of the pipe, then caught herself with an aggrieved grunt. "How long has it been since I left you here?"

"About a day, although it's hard to tell. It never gets fully dark and the sky is so hazy that the sun is hard to track," Gong Lau Yan said, accepting water gratefully from the loong soldiers. They bowed respectfully, causing Gaam Yuk Ying to comment to Gou Dzing that he kept forgetting Lady Gong was royalty, with the way she acted. Gong Lau Yan caught him and vigorously rubbed his head until his hair was a complete birds-nest.

"Hm, so perhaps two times slower... Almost two days have passed for us. When we arrived back at Ming Yuet, Ming Dzue said we'd been gone almost two days already."

"How is Dze Dze?"

"Perfectly fine, you brat. Shouldn't you be more worried about Ling Gwong and Little Bik?"

"How are they?" Gaam Yuk Ying asked, surprising everyone.

"Ling Gwong will recover. She's mostly malnourished, but she's a Divine Guardian. Her energy is strong. She wasn't ill-treated by the demons."

"And... Bik Si mui?" Gou Dzing pressed.

Wong Tang's mouth tightened. "Ling Gwong has always been a stubborn fool. Maan Dzi King?"

"Yes, Divine Majesty."

"Have you sorted yourself out yet?"

Maan Dzi King's eyes flickered towards Gong Lau Yan and the loong troops. They were talking animatedly as if they hadn't heard anything.

"I am always ready to serve you, Divine Majesty."

"Little Cheng will be staying with Little Bik for the time being. We agreed it was best. Even if Ling Gwong is being a fool, Chan Bik has the talent to be her disciple, and we don't want her falling into a hei deviation before that. So we're relying on you to do your job, understood?"

"Are you saying that you've been considering that little girl to be the strategist of this group?" Maan Dzi King asked evenly. Still bowed, the knuckles of her clasped hands gleamed white.

Wong Tang blew a stream of smoke from her pipe. "We can have that conversation right here, right now, if you wish," she said quietly. There was an awkward lull in the conversation between the other loong as they struggled to keep up the pretence of not being able to hear Wong Tang reprimanding Maan Dzi King.

The proud loong lowered her ocean-blue eyes. "I will do as you say, Divine Majesty."

"Good. We have three goals here." Wong Tang raised her voice, and the group, human and loong alike, gathered to listen. "First, the capture of Tim Dzeung Baak. This woman is dangerous. She had high cultivation powers, perhaps at the cusp of Third Daan-tin. Her powers are of an explosive Fire type. Soldiers -" Here she looked at the loong troops. "- you will not be so readily able to draw on your powers here. I'm sure you've realised that this realm is very different from ours. Do not become complacent.

"I have also made sure to bring senior disciples with high Earth affinities. You will notice that this land is very dry, and disciples of the Still Heart School would struggle with limited water. Gaam Yuk Ying?"