CHAPTER 11, APPEARANCE OF THE JADE RING
"Boss, I want a bag of apples" Wei An Ge ordered, smiling at the man.
He nodded, choosing for a good apple to be sold, smiling that he was getting paid more money for his family while Wei An Ge was scanning the area. She was getting excited by the view but hunger should be first.
"Here you go, miss" he handed the bag with a large thankful smile. "3 silver, miss"
"Thank you," she passed the silver pieces. "Silver horse, one for you"
She gave it to the horse to be eaten as they continued strolling. Looking from the view, Hei An Guang was not actually the scariest kingdom. The people were kind and friendly. The palace was the ruthless one.
"Miss, " the seller called. "Would you mind if I ask you a small matter?" The seller stopped her before she could walk away with the horse.
"Continue," she permitted, taking another bite of the juicy and crunchy apple.
"Why are you wearing a glove? You're not from here is it?" He smiled with his squinted eyes and white straight teeth to cover up the awkwardness.
"Ah, I have skin disease" she lied, smiling. "People can't see my hand, they will be disgusted and run away,"
"But you're such a pretty lady, miss. How can such an unfortunate event happen to you?"
She blushed and nodded goodbye as she walked faster.
"What does being pretty has anything to do with being unfortunate?" She mumbled,
The street was full of fruits, food, and performances. The atmosphere was loud and fascinating.
"Amazing!" The people supported, shouting. "AMAZING!"
"Let's have a look," Wei An Ge rushed to the bunch of people circling around a guy drinking from a cup. "He's drunk, what's so exciting about it?"
The performer starts spitting out fire.
Wei An Ge's eyes enlarged, shocked.
"You're a dragon if you're drunk??" She applauds. "So cool"
While being full of excitement, she let go of the horse's headcollar rope. The silver horse, being bothered by the loud crowd felt uneasy, it started moving around.
"Ouch!" A young squeaky voice lingered. Wei An Ge looked down to see a 4 years old messy looking boy was being pushed by her horse.
"Boy, I'm sorry" she picked him up and placed him on the horse. "You watch the drunk dragon from up here. It's a better view"
"Thank you, miss" he thanked,
"Hey, you should call me sister" she turned to him, smiling. "Say it, sister"
He repeated. "Sis-ter-"
"THANK YOU EVERYONE!" The performer was bowing to the crowds, expressing his gratitude.
Both the child and Wei An Ge sigh in disappointment.
"The drunk dragon has gone now, let's stroll around more. What do you think, young boy?" She asked, guiding the horse.
The boy nodded repeatedly, smiling. His smile justified they he had no teeth in a certain area.
"You're so cute, I can eat you," Wei An Ge teased, softly pinching his chubby and dirty cheeks "yummy"
"Sister, you're cute as well. Zhi Qi can eat you too"
"You don't even have teeth," she laughed.
"CHEN ZHI QI!" An old woman appeared, running towards them. She was shouting. Her face was smothered with dirt. Her half gray half black hair was messy and she also have no teeth.
"The King should have a dentist clinic" Wei An Ge mumbled, stunned by the figure.
"Is that your grandma?" She looked at the boy as he nodded. He was covering his eyes with his fist. "What's wrong?"
"My Grandma is old and ugly. I always get bullied whenever I'm with her."
"Where's your parents?"
"I don't know, where's yours, sister?"
"I didn't think that through" she mumbled. "I don't have one, I'm not made up of parents."
The boy laughed.
"Sister, I think you are crazier than my grandma."
Wei An Ge shrugged her nose to the boy, shaking her head slowly to show her annoyance. She led the horse to the grandma, calling her.
"Grandma, Here is you Chen Zhi Qi" she carried the boy to the grandma's arm.
"Thank you, young lady" The grandma bowed, "Lady, do you know your parents?"
The grandma's eyes enlarged as soon as she saw Wei An Ge left hands with gloves.
"This question again," she carved a forceful large smile, raising her cheeks to the point where her eyes were squinted.
"Sister doesn't have parents" the boy, Chen Zhi Qi reported, pointing at her and then shaking his head, as if it was her fault for not having parents.
The grandma pulled Wei An Ge by the wrist, bringing her and the silver horse to a random corner.
"Do you have a floral pattern growing along your arms?" The grandma whispered.
Wei An Ge nodded, shocked as her eyes enlarged and her heartbeat raised.
"How do you know-"
The grandma hugged Wei An Ge before she could finish her question. It felt warm and comfy as the grandma patted her on the back.
"I found you," the grandma whispered, patting her hair next. "You're sixteen soon, right?"
Wei An Ge nodded, still in the warm hug of the grandma.
"Another week and I'm sixteen, grandma"
"Then when it's time, you should try letting the cascading plants lead you to your birthday present. Left by your mother." The grandma let go of her and walked away with the boy, Chen Zhi Qi.
Wei An Ge turned to her silver horse, awkward.
"We shall try that soon,"
Her stroll lead them to many foods especially desserts that their money wasn't enough for tomorrow.
As the sky gets darker and moonrise,
They walked to a wide green field filled with green grasses as the grasshoppers made a calming sound.
"Sleeping under the stars isn't that beautiful" she persuaded, laying her back against the silver horse smiling.
Li Zhang Ke was hiding somewhere at the back where there were lots of dried grass tied together. He was just there, staring at her figure.
"Are parents really that important?" She thought herself. "I lived these 15 years quite fine tho,"
She sighed.
"Don't you think so, General?" She called, smiling. Twisting her head slightly to the back enough to see the general's careless figure."I heard you"
Li Zhang Ke sighed, walking to her, and sat beside the crown princess.
"Me and Hua Rong do have parents but they are not here. Your situation might be like ours," he advised with a slow tone of voice.
"Can I be a parent one day? I should be a good one, actually" she pasted her views to the stars. "Not leaving my children alone and let them be themselves without no covers like this stupid glove"
"Let's be a parent," she invited, instantly turning her head to him being startled and speechless.
General Li Zhang Ke was speechless and froze for a moment, staring at her.
"You know, when you refuse to hit me when we were training, I feel that you are such a nice guy" she stared deep into the General's eyes. "But there was a something. A small black dot. It kept growing bigger in your eyes."
"My pupil?"
"No," Wei An Ge rolled her eyes, adjusting her back position, smiling. "You think I don't know what is the pupil?"
She giggled.
"Well, you don't even know parents. Can't blame me" Li Zhang Ke said to dear self, defensive.
"So, you go and sleep somewhere else. This is my horse" she giggled, laying her back on the silver horse.
"Stupid,"
----
"Sister, wake up!" The boy, Chen Zhi Qi shouted trying to wake Wei An Ge up. His voice was breathy as if he just run a marathon.
Wei An Ge was laying on the horseback. Chen Zhi Qi, being small could only try reaching her fingers.
"Sister must be a lazy one" he dissed.
"I'm awake, I'm awake" Wei An Ge claimed with her eyes closed. "Go away, what do you want?"
"Someone kidnapped our Grandma!" Zhi Qi informed, "let's save her!"
Wei An Ge instantly raised her eyelids, shocked, and fell off the horse. "Who kidnapped her?"
"It was the people of Wei Zhuang!"
She tried combining the puzzle in her head. But failed nevertheless, "Why? The old Grandma has nothing to do with Wei Zhuang"
"Hey, it's our grandma, not the old grandma!" Zhi Qi scolded, getting offended. Even when scolding, his squeaky voice remained the same. Cute. "They gave me a map,"
It only took her a glance to understand the piece of paper.
"Let's go," She placed Zhi Qi on her horse and rode it together to the marked sign of the plan. "Hiaa!"
"Hiah" Zhi Qi repeated with his voice, cute.
"Stop," Wei An Ge smiled, pinching his cheek.
"Crown Princess!" General Wang Kuan appeared in front of her, getting in the way. Immediately she pulled the horse's collar, directing it to stop
"What's wrong?" With anxiety, she inquired the general.
"Someone kidnapped our grandma!" Zhi Qi shouted, angry.
Wei An Ge stared at the General. He was looking exactly the same as he used to. The same armor and hairstyle. But there was a weird feeling to him.
"I'll follow you!" The general bowed, offering the path.
"Hia!" She whipped the horse, heading to the marked area on the plan. But first, they had to rush through the crowds of the busy Imperial City.
"GIVE WAY!" The general shouted for the sake of the people's safety. His roar was loud and fearful. The people had to obey, moving away from the road.
Soon enough,
They arrived at a large unknown broken house covered in mosses and dead plants.
"General," Sun Lai Zhe, and Li Zhi Jian appeared with a horse for each, greeting Wang Kuan. "Crown Princess,"
They bowed.
"Wait, I don't think this is right" she monologued. "Why are they here?"
"Li Zhi Jian, where is your grandson?" She finally speak a volume, furrowing her eyebrows. The tone of her voice was confused and alert.
Before any of the members could answer the old woman shouted.
"SHE IS!"
"Grandma!" Zhi Qi noticed, trying to jump off the horse.
All of them got off from their horses and entered the house just to see the grandma crying at one corner of the house.
As scary as it sounds, the grandma didn't look injured. None of her hands or feet were tied. She was able to speak or scream because her mouth was left uncovered by anything.
"Run," the grandma cried, pasting her look at Wei An Ge.
Finally, Wei An Ge got to see the grandma's face. Her eyes were swollen. Tears wet her dirty wrinkly cheeks as she warned Wei An Ge.
The princess on the other side was stunned by the grandma's figure, on the dirty floor hugging herself to survive the cold at the corner.
She balled her first as a weave of the sword sliced her left hand, turning the black glove to a large cut.
It was Wang Kuan, attacking from behind, who appeared with a dagger, he ran beside her using his high-speed ability.
Reacting to the pain of sliced skin, her posture lowered halfway to the ground. She was covering the wound, following Jing Nu's advice. Press the wound, avoid excessive bleeding.
Meanwhile, Zhi Qi ran to his grandmother's arm for safety assurance. He couldn't bear watching such bloody scenes, he married his face in the grandma's arm, hugging her tight.
Her eyes were repeatedly exchanging between three of her enemies and the old grandma she wanted to protect. It made her slightly dizzy and unable to focus hence, giving the advantage for Sun Lai Zhe to also slice her left hand as if it was their one and only target.
"ZHI QI, THEY ARE THE WEI ZHUANG PEOPLE?" She inquired, finally falling to the ground with only her right palm as a stand.
Zhi Qi nodded, continued hugging the grandma as soon as he reported.
"Betrayers!" she shouted out of anger. Furrowing her eyebrows and clenching her teeth, she rose, almost losing balance.
Li Zhi Jian suddenly appeared, running towards her, pointing his long sword-point out of the thin air. It was his power, invisibility. Wei An Ge wasn't fast enough to react, she was stunned and frozen in her position, lowered back.
"Zhang Ke!" Li Zhi Jian cried upon finding out his sword penetrated through his own grandson's chest.
Li Zhang Ke there, grinning at him, taking the stab for Wei An Ge.
•Flashback•
"Grandfather, you should stab me," Li Zhang Ke insisted, full of determination on his face. "So that the Jade Ring will reveal her power."
The spies were in Li Zhang Ke's room the day Wei An Ge left the castle. Little did they know Wang Xuan and Sun Ai Er were sneaking beside the room, hearing their talks through the door.
Hearing the stabbing matter of Li Zhang Ke, Wang Xuan was about to make moves, entering the room but Sun Ai Er held her tight, preventing her to make it through the entrance.
Li Zhi Jian shook his head, disagreeing. He was recollecting his thoughts on whether to risk his grandson's life for a mission.
"Why does it have to be you?"
"The Crown Princess likes me. She confessed." Li Zhang Ke falsely claimed, getting a slight hint of shame to talk about such matters.
Wang Xuan's body was trembling. Her face turned red in shock. Sun Lai Zhe clapped his hands, walking towards him smiling.
"Young man, the power you're holding now is unbeatable" he pats Li Zhang Ke's back, impressed by his excellent courage.
Li Zhang Ke on the other hand had his eyes down on the ground. He wasn't looking happy. Wang Xuan was running in his mind at the moment. How will she feel? How would the daughter of a general react?
"Elder Li, it should be alright if you stab him at the right place, he won't die." General Wang Kuan persuaded,
"Why don't you do it on your daughter, Wang Xuan?!" Li Zhi Jian scolded, full of anger as he death stared at the General.
Wang Xuan and Sun Ai Er's eyes enlarged behind the wall of the room, turning their head towards the door knowing that they shouldn't be making any noises. Sun Ai Er held Wang Xuan's hands tighter as she was shaking harder.
"I won't allow it!" Li Zhang Ke rebelled, raising his head immediately. His furrowed eyebrows and the anger in his eyes explained his determination.
Wang Xuan smiled in relief finally letting one of her tears fall.
His grandfather shook his head, looking down in disappointment.
"I'll be fine, grandfather. You don't have to worry"
•End flashback•
"Zhang Ke!" Li Zhi Jian cried.
Li Zhang Ke twisted his head to his left side, trying to have a glance at Wei An Ge. Smiling, he said
"The crown princess can't even shoot accurately. How can she win against all of you combined?"
He instantly fell to the ground, painful in front of the crown princess before she could even get the time to react.
Wei An Ge took a deep breath, closing her eyes down letting the tears fall down for the last time.
"Surrender now," she warned with such a fortune tone of voice. Her face was red and she was trembling with her eyes still closed. Her slow and deep breath affects her body movement.
The spies didn't show any movement other than exchanging looks at each other, clueless of what's the next step should have been. Honestly, they didn't think of it this far.
"Hmph!" She laughed, blindly scanning their faces. They marched together, attacking her again.
"Then DIE!"
She revealed her all-white eyes accompanied by such a deadly stare and grin. Her posture was straight again and she even did a few scratches as the torn glove on her hands scratched further revealing the drawing of cascading plants around her arms to her fingers growing into a real poisonous plant, foxglove poison. Her old forehead scar two years ago also turned into a wreath of cascading plants on it.
She widened her right arms, expanding her palm to the air, a longbow made up of the wood of hickory and decorated with the floral pattern as if it grew from the tip into the limb of the bow grow as she clenched her right palm, leaving a hole for the longbow to grow.
Her look was deadly. Her eyes were blank. Her eyebrows were furrowed in anger and her left upper lip was slightly raised.
She expanded her left palm downwards, under her hips as three poisonous arrows grew out of her knuckle simultaneously. She gripped them and started aiming with the longbow on her right hand.
"You brought us here," she whispered in a raucous tone of voice as she shoot the fresh arrows. They flew through the air to General Wang Xuan's left arm as he ran with full speed. All three of them at once.
She expanded her left palm again, growing another poisonous arrow by the knuckle, and aimed it at Li Zhi Jian.
"You killed," she released the arrow by the tension of the string.
Li Zhi Jian tried defending himself, he used his telekinesis power to stop the arrows. It worked for a few seconds until Wei An Ge shouted,
"YOUR OWN BLOODLINE!" the arrows punctured to his chest.
"General Wang Kuan, you made a wrong choice not to obey me!" She shouted, releasing her arrows.
"Sun Lai Zhe!" She shoots as he tried running.
Three arrows for each member. One after another, they fell to the ground.
Wei An Ge finally fell to her knees, Her eyes were still staring blankly. She tried rearranging her breathing and took some time for it.
"Jing Nu said, press the injured part, avoid excessive bleeding" she recite, pressing on Li Zhang Ke's chest.
"Sister, you're scaring me" Zhi Qi cried. He was scared of Wei An Ge's all-white eyes and the wreath along her forehead.
Wei An Ge smiled, shaking her head. "Zhi Qi, don't be afraid. They are dead"
"Let's go back to the palace, give them harder punishment" her left hand pressed the ground.
Plants started growing on the ground. The General's and Li Zhang Ke's feet were tied.
"Miss, we don't want to go to the palace," the Grandma refused,
"Why?" Wei An Ge burst into tears. Her facial expression remained unchanged including her all-white eyes.
"This is our home"
She nodded slowly a few times, understood.
"Sister is also going home"
She stood up, walking out through the door with the generals tied to her left hands. Getting on the silver horse, they dragged the Generals back to the palace except for Li Zhang Ke. He was placed on the horse beside her.