InterGalaxia (On Hold)

2.20

The twittering of the ladies quietened into a dead silence. Official Yu's wife, Madame Yu, fixed her slackened jaw and looked at Chi YunLei with appraising eyes. "You honestly do not know, Sister YunLei?" she hesitantly asked. Chi YunLei narrowed her eyes and crossed her legs, her arms folded on her chest with her long fingernails drumming incessantly in agitation, half-moon crescents indenting her fair skin as the nails dug in. "I am not aware. Madame Yu, would you be a dear and inform me of everything that has happened since I left for my journey" Chi YunLei brook no argument, it was a demand and not a request. Alas, Madame Yu sighed and sent her best wishes to the poor Prince who will have to return to this mess. After the better half of an hour, Chi YunLei was storming a warpath straight to Chi YunQi's Master, An.

 An, seeing the inevitable shit-storm heading his way, debated if he had enough time to make a run for it. "AN!", a ferocious roar echoed throughout the entire Chi estate, frightening the poor inhabitants half to death. An squeezed his eyes shut and let out a groan as his bedroom doors flew open. Never mind the fact that he was half dressed and covered in sweat after an intense workout, Chi YunLei nonetheless ran up to him with a black face full of thunder. Hitting every piece of flesh she could reach, Madame YunLei let out her anger and the feeling of betrayal with the descent of her clenched fists. She whacked him endlessly, and he let her until her fists were red and swollen and she slumped down, tired. "How long?" she murmured, not bothering to raise her voice. An didn't have freakish senses nor did he have spirit force, he only heard her because of silent quagmire drowning the entire estate. It seemed nobody dared to breathe for fear of incurring the Matriarch's wrath. "Almost 8 months ago" he answered after allowing her to calm herself a bit. Chi YunLei snapped her head up with eyes so narrowed that it was a wonder if she could even see through the fan of her lashes. She opened her eyes, turmoil and grief swirling abundantly. An quietly watched her, noticing her resolve hardening. He wasn't aware of what she was determined to do but he knew it probably wasn't good. 

He recalled a conversation he had with the brat a couple of years ago. They were still on their training journey and had stopped at a peak of a low mountain. The peak was suspiciously flat as if the tip was cut off by some large knife. There were only two things on this mountain. One gigantic balding Cypress tree that stood tall towards the Heavens and one Cypress sapling that had been felled and withered, the numerous thin branches were broken off until just the trunk was left. Chi YunQi was standing on the trunk of the fallen tree, arms clasped behind her back with her chest pushed out and slowly walking across the length of the tree, like a gymnast on a balance beam. She never looked down at her feet, her head always facing in front of her, using her downwards peripheral vision to ensure that she was not tripping up. An was walking alongside her on the ground. 

"You know, I've never actually asked about your relationship with the Matriarch. You both seem to be very awkward around each other" An spoke up to break the quiet atmosphere. Chi YunQi glanced at him over her shoulder, brow raised in question. "Why bring it up now? Seriously, where did that topic come from?" she asked. An shrugged his shoulders, a habit he's picked up since his student explained what the strange movement meant. "I've been thinking on it for a while now and since we're on our way back, I figure you could explain the situation so I can better understand" he reasoned. Chi YunQi breathed in deep and exhaled fully before plopping down on the tree trunk to get comfortable. Swinging her legs back and forth, she looked up at the clouds in thought. "Mother is strange", she concluded. An clicked his tongue. "Yeah, well, no shit" he hissed. "No, she's really strange. I believe she has been traumatised by something in the past and that has affected her sanity. She's got a screw loose" Chi YunQi emphasised by knocked on her skull while tilting her head.  An was confused, some words just didn't make sense to him. Chi YunQi seemed to pick it up and decided to use a simplistic way of describing what she meant.