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

37 - Who's the real villain?

CW: Death, torture, gore

***

It took them almost half an hour to sober up. Gou Dzing was tucked back into bed, despite his protests, with Gaam Yuk Ying sitting on the bed beside him. Cheng Baak-hap had found a seat, and Chan Bik stood behind her, absently massaging the other girl's shoulders.

"Chan Si-mui, you've gotten stronger." Gou Dzing smiled in her general direction. "Even without my vision, you're burning brightly."

"Lady Ling Gwong taught her." Cheng Baak-hap smirked. Chan Bik snorted.

"Oh, good, she finally threw aside her stubbornness and made you her disciple?"

"No," Cheng Baak-hap groaned. "They're both so stubborn. Lady Ling still insists that... that woman is her direct disciple. But she obviously wanted to teach Bik Bik. And Bik Bik was angry at being treated second-rate, so she kept saying she didn't want to learn from Lady Ling, even though she clearly did. So somehow with them both pretending it was all coincidence, Lady Ling would teach Bik Bik, and Bik Bik would learn from her."

"...Wow. How, exactly?"

"Fighting," Gaam Yuk Ying explained succinctly.

"Ah."

"Teem Djeung Baak still..." Chan Bik's words were lost to grumbles as she gnawed on a fingernail with nervous energy.

"Not for long," Gaam Yuk Ying said. Chan Bik dropped her hand in surprise.

"Gaam Si-hing, did you just praise me?"

Was that praise?

With someone so sparing with words and emotions as Gaam Yuk Ying, one could probably say so.

"How about you, Cheng Si-mui? How have you been?"

"Well, my research efforts have moved away from trying to decipher the demon language, or languages, perhaps, and on to finding a new form of communication. Demons have so many different morphologies, and many of them just aren't suited to the pronunciation of many Dzue words. I want to experiment with modifying words so that it's easier for the demons to pronounce. Now that I'm back, I'll have to see how it works in practice."

"I still don't understand how you're going to do that," Gou Dzing groaned.

"I'll try a few things. I was thinking I would start with showing them various pictures and objects and telling them the names they've been given in this experimental language."

"So we'll have to learn a new language too?"

"It's very similar to Dzue in many ways. Just modified to match the demons' morphology, as I said."

"Glad it's you and not me working on this."

"I think it's really exciting though?"

"My point exactly."

"What happened to you, Gou Si-hing?"

"I overdid the Dragon Eyes. I should be okay in a si."

"Did that ever happen to you, Gaam Si-hing?" Chan Bik asked nervously. She unconsciously rubbed her eyes, which had already begun to develop shining pink sparks in the dark brown of her irises.