[ZHUILING] More Than Enough

Chapter 24

     By the time Sizhui finally regained consciousness, a day have already passed by.

     "Young Master Lan!" Shao Qing cried happily when she found him awake in the morning. Hurriedly, she crouched next to the bed he was laid upon, a pair of new robes folded in her arms. "Thank goodness that I sent for Lan Qiren. He managed to get there on time for you to come back safely." Her smile was a sad one as she spoke, "Young Master Jin's whereabouts are still unknown. I'll have to trouble Young Master Lan to tell me what he's saw-"

     "A-Ling..." Sizhui sat up from the bed, the blanket covers falling off his shoulders.

     "You shouldn't move around that much!" Shao Qing warned, "you've gotten injuries around the chest. After a few days or so, it should heal."

     "That's not important." Sizhui sternly pressed, "A-Ling... he fell off the cliff to Town Cheng Du... and I was... unable to protect him." His eyes began to waver like the petals of a lotus flower being splashed by the muddy waters. Shao Qing speechlessly watched Sizhui's eyes overflow with tears that slid down his cheeks and dropped on the blanket covers.

     She bit her lips, "I know that... there should be some trees around the cliff that Young Master Jin might've used to break his fall. His injuries... shouldn't be death-warranting if he managed to break his fall with the trees."

     "Oh, is that so." Sizhui sighed. His face turned black as he snapped, "just how do you know that? Have you been to Town Cheng Du before?"

     Shao Qing froze.

*****

     Jin Ling felt like he was in a dream. A foggy and unclear dream.

     He was unsure with what kind of ending he wished for. Was he looking for death, or looking for someone to pull him out from the dark abyss of unknown? He didn't know. And he didn't want to know, because either option made him sound so ugly and despairing, he could just die-

His sight of the darkness finally cleared up as he was greeted by a sense of pain.

"Shit..." he swore.

He was still alive.

Besides from the serious sense of pain, a familiar face greeted him as well. "You've awaken! Do you know how worried I was? I thought I was going to see the future Lanling Jin sect leader die right before my eyes!"

Jin Ling examined the young man in front of him.

Yellow clothes. Arrogant face of fat.

     "Jin Chan!" Jin Ling gasped.

Indeed, the young man who saved Jin Ling from leaving to the Afterlife was Jin Chan. As Jin Ling had a closer inspection around his surroundings, he noticed that he wasn't underneath the cliff as he expected. He was caged in by a small wooden house that had no windows; only a small candle to provide lighting.

"Where am I..." Jin Ling groaned.

He couldn't tell if it was day or night; night or day.

     "You're in Town Cheng Du." Jin Chan smirked, "I've moved over to here after I left the path of a cultivator. I thought to myself what was the best place for a man who was looking to rest? I once thought of burying myself in the dirt. Of course, I didn't do that. However, I found a few people climbing up from stairs inserted by the side of this cliff. They invited me to live in Town Cheng Du with them, and I gladly agreed. Ever since then, I've been babied and taken care of. I don't need to look for a job, because the people of Town Cheng Du are so nice, they feed me even when I don't ask them to."

     Jin Ling blinked before saying, "you didn't need to tell me your entire backstory."

     Jin Chan smiled, "but I'm just so happy here. The people in Town Cheng Du are the best! Even when surviving seems difficult, they persevere and smile."

     "But..." Jin Ling began, "there are fierce corpses surrounding the cliff. How are you guys going to leave to earn money and buy food...?"

     "Good question." Jin Chan frowned, "I was originally thinking we were all going to starve, but the people of Town Cheng Du are so happy, I just know that they've already installed a plan! Sooner or later, we'll all be rescued."

     Jin Ling slowly sat up from the bed, his treated wounds inflicting pain upon himself.

     He gritted his teeth.

     "Go back to sleep." Jin Chan hushed, "it's not like I'll rape you or anything."

"You better not." Jin Ling spat.

"Huh?" Jin Chan was bewildered, "you really think you have a pretty face just because you're the future sect leader of Lanling Jin? You really think I'd want to-"

"Shut up!" Jin Ling hollered, "you're so loud!"

     He was about to lay back down on the bed, but suddenly sprang up when he noticed something was missing. "Where's Suihua?"

     "Suihua?" Jin Chan arched an eyebrow, "oh, you mean your sword? The Elder Leaders of Town Cheng Du decided to confiscate it. Did you know that weapons aren't allowed in Town Cheng Du?"

     "I was fighting the fierce corpses around the cliff." Jin Ling sighed, "I wouldn't have known that rule."

     "At least thank you for trying." Jin Chan whistled, "you incompetent sect leader."

     A vein popped in Jin Ling's forehead, "shut up!"

Jin Chan sighed, "do you seriously need to carry your sword everywhere?"

Jin Ling nodded persistently.

     Jin Chan frowned, "Are you sure sure sure?"

     Jin Ling nodded twice.

     Jin Chan sighed, "Fine fine. I'll go find the elders and have them give back your sword. If I don't succeed, don't blame me."

     Just like that, he left Jin Ling alone- pondering over what had just happened.

     "I'm in Town Cheng Du? I was saved by Jin Chan..." Jin Ling peered down at his wounds, which was bandaged up so tightly, the blood would leak through, but then the bandages would be changed again and again and again... all until the bleeding stopped. Jin Ling's wound around the ankle was bandaged up as well, but it prickled menacingly. Immediately, the Young Mistress' ankle had tensed up.

     Jin Ling hissed, "ow ow ow."

After recovering from the sudden pain, Jin Ling began drowning himself in sorrow. "I wish I can eat A-Yuan's fried egg rice... I want to eat lotus porridge with A-Yuan... then I want to train with Uncle and night hunt with Jingyi and A-Yuan... then I will fulfill my duties as a sect leader. Then... I will marry A-Yuan... then I will be happy forever..."

Before he knew it, tears began welling in his eyes.

     Jin Ling stumbled onto his two legs as he slid off the bed, pain boiling at his ankle. However, he ignored the pain as he marched to the doorway. What he saw outside had completely froze him.

     The sky was dark, so were the clouds. They were enamoured with the scent of blood and flesh, revealing a colour of crimson red. If Jin Ling hadn't known better, he would've thought that the sky was blushing. There weren't any birds that'd risk flying in the strange sky. A small pond laid nearby, however, the water was unclear. It was red too- mixed with flesh of hundreds of... who knows who?

     Jin Ling shuddered. How could he save a town like Town Cheng Du?