Despite how she acted, one needed to keep in mind that Qinglong Shu was not a people person. Many would call her out on that, pointing out how she acted around family and her clan's members, but there was a simple explanation for both. The former was family, people she grew up with, so it was easy to be at peace with them. The latter on the other hand? Well, she had a certain credo in that regard.
Fake it until you make it. Faking confidence, faking social skills, if one faked it enough, pretended enough and copied off others, it was basically the same thing, wasn't it? Naturally in practice, this was easier said than done. By using this as her go to social strategy with people she didn't know, she automatically created distance between her and others. Overly respectful, trying not to step on any toes. Conceal what she felt. Through that, her relationships in the clan were superficial at best. Especially with people of her 'generation'. Seniors were easy. One was supposed to be respectful and what not. Never going above one's station. But people of the same level? Well, that was where the politics started. It was no secret that Shu was an outsider. Not that outsiders to the Golden Devil Clan were rare, but they were definitely the minority. And as a minority, there were certain... biases against her. Biases that some tried to hide, some did that very well, but then there were others that didn't bother to hide it at all and made sure to remind Shu of her status as often as possible.
Thankfully at this point she developed thick enough skin, but with all those factors combined, Shu remembered Granny's words and lowered her head as she wandered around the training fields. The words that hurt her at the time and hurt her even more right now.
She, the former heir of the Qinglong Clan, the last hope of the Alliance... had no friends. It stung a lot, to admit it to herself in her head, but facts were facts. Initially she believed she'd be fine with this. That her family was more than enough. However, the more she grew in this Clan, the more responsibilities she received. The more responsibilities, the less time she got to spend at home. And with all that, her loneliness increased. It was bearable for now, but in the future? No, she definitely needed to break out of her shell before she went insane. Thus, she looked around, trying to find anyone, someone, to interact with. But every time she made eye contact with someone, she immediately looked away, her stomach churning at the thought of going any deeper. Then she spotted him, with his red hair, drinking booze as far as she could tell. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
She remembered the guy. Chang, if she recalled correctly. He joined relatively recently compared to her. But the Golden Devil Clan considered a generation to be a set of twenty years, so he was technically her generation mate. She licked her lips. He was also an outsider. So by that logic, they should get along, shouldn't they? He seemed a bit intimidating, the way he openly showed his lack of care for the judgement he received. But then again, she was a bit jealous of that confidence. It seemed genuine unlike her. She exhaled and clapped her cheeks a few times. Alright, they had a common ground, so they could work together! Have a bit of sparring, learn more about each other and boom, comrades for life and goodbye solitude!
She walked up to him and met his eyes before she put her fist into her palm, smiling at him like an equal.
"Hello, fellow brother! Would you mind sharing some pointers with this one?"
Her smile wavered when he didn't respond at all. He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a good look over. Then he stood up from his seat. Shu gulped. Huh, that guy was pretty tall, huh? Once more, he looked at her, as if considering something.
Then he let out a snort, eyes glinting with amusement as he cracked a smirk while he leaned his head back just a bit.
Shu felt her mind come to a grinding halt. She tilted her head ever so slightly, her smiling mouth twitching as she felt veins pulsing and pushing against her skin, her eyes open just a bit.
...Did that motherfucker just-
She barely caught the movement of his arm with the bottle in its hand. A flash of pain flared up in her face before everything went dark.
She didn't know how much time passed, but it felt like an instance. One moment she tried to talk with a fellow outsider, the next moment she gasped for air, shooting up from wherever she was lying.
"Wha-"
"Good day to you, Junior Sister."
Shu looked to the side and recognized the man. One of the healers. Which meant... she took the room in. The sick bay. She flinched and reached for her face. Not a hint of pain left. And yet she felt it.
"It's good that you have no injuries. It was a swift strike that knocked you out." He gave her a pointed look before focusing back on his herbs. "I recommend staying away from each other. Tensions between clan's members are frowned upon."
Nodding slowly, she pressed her lips together, just sitting in the bed for a while. Then, she silently rose from her bed. Shu heard the words. She heard them and promptly burned them into the depths of forgetfulness. She walked with purpose, with only one thought in her mind.
He. Punched. Her. In the fucking face. Without warning. With no reason at all. Not only that, he was openly looking down on her before clocking her face. Dismissed her as... whatever. Her steps hurried, her breathing growing more erratic as her eyes moved frantically, looking all over the place, searching, hunting.
She knew this was wrong. Wasn't proper. That she should be the bigger person and forgive him. Maybe he had a bad day. Maybe he was just that guy one should stay away from. A mature person would certainly center themselves and move on with their life. Unfortunately, Qinglong Shu was not mature. She was not rational. She was, in the words of Granny, a gremlin. Therefore. She growled, baring her teeth, her eyes changing once more due to her rage, changing without her knowledge.
Right now, she really just wanted to punch his stupid smug face in!
////
Joining the Golden Devils was a spontaneous action that was definitely warranted with how much chaos surrounded it. Chang wholeheartedly believed his action to be the correct one just because it was him taking it. Never mind all the stares and glares he gets, it's like those people weren't even there. All the flame-haired runaway needed to do was train his body and cultivate his qi in peace
If you asked Chang if he was having fun, he'd just respond with a non-answer at worst and a shrug at best. It's honestly better than still meandering about at home, slacking his life away and doing absolutely nothing.
Right now, he's putting in effort by his own hands and earning things by those same hands without having shit handed to him as easily as it was in the past. The feeling of hard work being rewarded was nearly enough to make the redhead feel alive, yet there's still something missing. It was during one of his introspections, searching for whatever he was missing to be complete, he was interrupted by a midget.
He was contently by his lonesome, sipping on some alcohol and swallowing bread when she talked about something pointless like 'exchanging pointers.'
He had no time for something like that, so he dealt with her in a timely manner. Hopefully she got the memo that he wasn't really interested in consorting with other people all that much. He'd do it if it was necessary, but what she did wasn't necessary.
Pointless, a waste of time, and most of all, a bore. At least it wasn't all bad. The positive of it was that it shook some things up a little for him. It was small, no more than a bump in the road, but it was at least something other than a monotonous pattern of training and cultivating.
Contemplating a little further, he realized that he needs to decide on his Dao for the future. Call it a weakness of the mind or a lack of resolve, but he's unable to pin down a truth to pursue with all of his being. Chang stared into an empty mug.
"Guess it's time to head back," he muttered. He's done with his meal. All that's left is to cultivate some more and get stronger so he could chase after a starry death as soon as possible. Stretching his arms, he walked off while ignoring every presence around him.
All he needed to focus on was himself. There was the sound of somebody running around, but that was of no concern to him.
At that instant, an impact shook his head and nearly made him fall over. He recognized immediately that he was attacked and swiftly turned around while feeling dazed from the attack. He wasn't drunk enough to be off-kilter, so that surprise strike did more than expected.
He locked eyes with the person who hit him out of nowhere like that, looking down on her with annoyance.
"You little—"
"Hey, shithead!"
Chang stopped in place, taking in the fired up broad. He narrowed his eyes and tried to recall who this person was. She was obviously in the same generation as him, but did he piss one of them off? Actually…
"Oh, you were the shorty who crumpled in a single hit. What's up?" That garnered an eye twitch. Chang just increased the amount of mock in his smirk.
"Round two, you bastard."
Huh? There wasn't even a round one.
Whatever. Chang doesn't have any time to mess around with a woman who offers nothing, so he'll get this over with as soon as possible. He settled into a casual stance while waiting for the chick to attack.
His confidence didn't slip in the slightest right up until the fight started.
The fight ended messily.
"Now we're even, fellow brother," she said, making sure to draw out the last two words. She spat to the side and walked off, the only mark of this fight on her was her sweat and heavy breathing. It was childish of her to feel like that, but right now, she couldn't help but grin in victory.
Chang was laid flat on his ass, forced to accept a loss to a little girl of all people. She was aggressively hyper and wouldn't let him counterattack at all. He was just overwhelmed.
He stared straight up at the sky. His face was particularly sore compared to the rest of his body because of the little cat targeting it religiously.
"I lost to her?" Chang's words were airy and careless, but there was a rising irritation in his body. He couldn't ignore the pestering sensation of insect bites in his soul just from suffering a bit of pain. A very irritating feeling that threatens to drive him to the cusp of madness because of how often it assaults him.
He's gotten good at ignoring it, but that doesn't mean he's content with feeling it.
Chang sat up and felt his face, wincing from the stinging pain. "Tch. I really lost to a brat like that, huh. What's her name again…?"
He clicked his tongue at not placing a name to that angry face.
He needs to get back at her. No way in hell is he gonna take a beatdown like this lying down. First, he needs to go to a healer and get his face fixed up. After that, he can go seek her out later and beat her down.
////
Looking back, Shu should've figured there was no way that was going to be the end of it. Once she got off her own high, there was just a weird taste in her mouth. Not ash. Just... not as sweet as it should have been. So a part of her was both enraged and happy that that asshole Chang actually came to her for a change to have round three. Maybe he didn't consider the first one a round at all, but a loss was a loss and Shu wasn't merciful enough to herself to see it as anything but one. However, what did surprise her however, was the fact that this guy made a formal request for actual sparring. Well, for a loose definition of formal. Basically just walked up to her, with a sneer, and provoked her by telling her it was a mere fluke that she won. A child's provocation. Naturally Shu accepted the match without hesitation.
"Figures I'd damage your male pride too much to leave it." She cracked her knuckles as they stood in front of each other in the arena. She leaned forward, right arm in front with a snarling smile. "Fine, I'll beat your ugly mug as often as I have to!"
This suited her just fine! The last fight didn't satisfy her! He had no chance to fight back! She just rushed him without leaving him a chance. It was proper payback for his sneak attack but it wasn't as filling as it should have been. But now? Now she got to show off all of her skills and leave no room for objections when she won this time!
"Let's get this over with, you brat." Chang was fully rested and fully prepared to put this brat in the ground. He recalled the way she fought, a style focusing on overwhelming and crushing with a hint of a changing flow to it, and settled into a different stance than before.
He slightly lowered his body and held open hands in front of his body. It conveyed the sentiment that he wasn't going to move first.
Only a few breaths worth of time passed before the midget rushed first, a reckless fist aiming straight at Chang's head. Things were seeming like a repeat of the last time right up until the man blocked it with his palm.
Before he could grip it to stop the more agile fighter in place, she pulled back the fist and struck at his liver with the other one only to find it repelled by Chang's other open palm.
The fight almost settled into a pattern of Chang adamantly blocking the swift strikes, standing tall like a mountain. It was naturally impossible to accurately block every single strike. Some punches got through.
However, the quality of the attacks could only be bolstered by quantity if they come from a frame as small as his opponent's. The redhead has both the weight and height advantage, thus his endurance and strength is naturally higher. Even ignoring the fact that he's hardier than the average person, Chang wouldn't go down unless he got overwhelmed again.
The multiple strikes were starting to take their toll though. It's because of that, he took a risk and suffered a furious punch to the gut while throwing out a desperate jab to his opponent's face.
It was then that Shu grinned widely. She knew this stalemate wouldn't last forever. Honestly, now that she was fighting him again, she realized how tough he was. Her knuckles actually ached from hitting that piece of meat over and over again. Still, now the tides changed at last, as he purposefully took her hit. The fist pressed against her face.
"Gotcha~!"
The aggressive Wood Qi that fueled her Fire gave place to the softness of water. She followed the flow of his strike and flung herself back with the force of his attack. At the same time, her right foot shot up. To Chang's credit, he leaned back fast enough that her toes barely touched the skin of his chin. Nevertheless, almost gracefully, Shu landed on her feet, licking her lips as she moved her arms as if they were the waves of the ocean. Then she motioned for him to come at her, her fists replaced with open palms.
"Wanna try again?"
Chang massaged his stomach, analyzing the sudden change in her movements. While his plan was to break the stalemate, she did it first by shaking up the monotony of her fighting style. At the same time, the pain dulled with the sensation of his vibrating soul overpowering it.
"Not enough," he muttered.
He tightly closed his open palms into fists. At first glance, it was like the girl was mimicking his initial stance, but a second glance disproves that handily. Her movements are far more practiced and loose.
Whatever. It's not like being defensive is what he's best at. He'll take the advantage on the next exchange.
Chang charged in first, furious punches flying with no regards for defense. Instead of blocking, she diverted. What she couldn't divert, she dodged around. She was too small and limber to land direct hits on and Chang's glancing blows were reduced to insect bites. Strangely enough, he smiled.
"Trash," he breathed out. Immediately after that, he shot out an aggressive kick at her swaying arms. He put all his strength into that, enough so that even if she tried to divert it, damage would pierce through. Dodging it would also prove to be difficult as well because he aimed straight at her center.
He was referring to himself as trash. Being played around like this by a girl who's weaker than him…what else can he call this but garbage?
She heard his words. She believed them to be directed at her. It only caused her eyes to glow even more with outrage. At this point, one could not miss the dragonic eyes that formed...or lizard eyes to some. How dare he talk so much hotshit after she pushed him back so much? However, she still admitted one thing. For as simple as he fought, simplicity had its place in combat. With that attack, she could no longer divert it. So in response, she exhaled...and soft Water turned into Hardened Earth and Metal. She spread her legs, lowered her center of gravity and clenched her muscles into a mighty boulder.
Blood still spilled out of her as she was pushed back, not as far as she would've had, but still more than she liked to. She almost barfed up all of her food, but she grit her teeth, forcing a smirk before rearing her head back.
"Who's trash, huh?!"
Then with the grace of a rampaging bull, she threw her forehead towards the bridge of his nose, intending to smash it like a boulder thrown. Gone was the fast paced aggression and both the smooth and hard defense. Now it was just raw, relatively slow, brute force trauma.
He didn't, couldn't, see the switching of stances coming once more. Pain rippled through his skull as the sound of something cracking reverberated in his ears. That truly hurt, but it still wasn't enough to put him down. Not yet.
He heard her words and just smirked through the pain, wiping the blood from his nostrils.
"Who do you think?" If she wants to play hard, then he can play hard and vicious. He refuses to fall into her changing pace. He looked at her eyes and tried to read her emotions all in order to determine his flow.
Ha. The headbutt should be enough to tell him what she's fighting like now. Clashing strength and hardness with strength and hardness will let him win, but it won't give him the win he wants. Plus, she can still keep switching.
The brat attacked first again.
Chang raised his elbow at the incoming knuckles, serving as both offense and defense. The pain hit not only him, but his opponent too. Since it reached all the way to the tip of his fingers, he couldn't use that arm for a second, but he still had a second arm, one which he used to launch a body blow at his smaller opponent. His qi and his soul roiled with each second this battle continued, only growing more and more chaotic.
The fight went on and on like that, with Shu repeatedly switching it up to put Chang on the backfoot. Once by sweeping his legs away and forcing him to the ground, trying to choke him. He broke out with his superior strength, but she was up first and literally kicked him while he was down. Once she bearhugged him and then pressed his head down to throw knee after knee before he punched her so hard her head flung back, releasing him. Over and over, they spilled blood. Spectators wouldn't be surprised if at some point one of them would just drop dead.
Despite everything however...their dislike for each other, their pain and exhaustion... No, not despite. It was like those things ceased to exist over the course of this fight. The two Good Seeds simply smiled like utter maniacs. Being pushed to the brink like this, the two idiots were filled with satisfaction and excitement. They were like two feral animals, finding joy in the thrill of the hunt. Yes, this was how it was supposed to go! To utterly crush each other with all their power and skill. In the depths of their souls, they both realized and acknowledged that defeating a struggling opponen, an opponent they beat with full strength, was the only victory that was a proper one!
In Shu's case, her soul screamed in delight. Ah, the pressure of combat, the situation of being forced to think faster and faster. So many moves she could do and she had to pick a single one per exchange. Ah, she was spoiled with choices, as her creativity went into overdrive. Which Qi to use, which element, which philosophy?! She wanted to learn more from this, from him, before wrecking his entire life! Unbeknownst to her, in her high, she didn't notice her shifting slowed down. Or rather, the 'gap' in between, that was created from her considering every move she could do in a given situation and then picking one, grew as exhaustion caught up to her. For that was her weakness at this stage. A powerful burst of inspiration and momentum. But just like a fire, just like a wave, just like the growth of a tree...it would eventually die out.
Chang did not miss those chances and the flow of the battle changed once more.
His exhaustion was piling up and no matter how much irritation piled up from the hits, his endurance was keeping him standing strong. His soul wouldn't allow him to lose again. No fucking way.
His eyes were working double time on observing her timing. The instant where her offense and defense drop from relying on the malleability of her multiple stances is the instant where Chang can deliver a clean strike. Those instants started out as too quick to take advantage of at the beginning of the battle becoming more and more noticeable as things dragged on. Eventually, as the sun and exhaustion took its toll on both fighters…
"Finally got you, you slippery shit."
Chang grabbed onto her wrist. She was probably switching from hard to soft, but that didn't matter. He instantly threw out a punch with his free hand, her arm trying its best to fend it off. It didn't matter.
She tried to switch as fast as she could. But as she moved her arms in a panic, eyes wide, his attack already landed, before turning everything black once more.
///
Laying down on a sturdy bed after a day's worth of hard work should've been enough to make Chang doze off like a bear. His mind, however, was too active for such a nice thing to happen. The subject of his active mind was of course the fight that took place earlier.
It felt like he was chewing on something particularly sour.
"I should've been able to beat her much earlier and with greater ease than that." It bothered him immensely. He did lose the first round between the two, but he wasn't really prepared for that. This second round should've been one-sided domination on his side, but it was closer than he preferred.
It was a messy, trashy fight. It screamed that he needed more experience and power, so something like that doesn't happen again.
Chang's lips became a thin line as he thought about his opponent. He never really put anyone in his eyes, but he had no choice but to acknowledge her. He may have won, but he had to work hard for it.
He sat up, energy and frustration rampaging through his body. He believed he needed to get stronger, so it's time for him to put his money where his mouth was and actually work on that.
He started cultivating. And he couldn't let things rest at that. He had to cultivate his mind as well. He was taking things too easy. He ran away from all the crap his family was throwing at him so he could make his own life, and this is what he had to show for it?
Yeah, he has to thank that midget. She knocked some stupidity out of him. He'll push himself further and harder, so much that his soul would scream and bring him even greater annoyance. To cultivate meant defying the heavens and his goal was to die like a great hero. Taking it easy and playing around…that mentality could go eat shit.
"What was her name again?" He shook his head moments later and put her out of his mind. Time to wear himself out until he fell unconscious.
///
Shu was the definition of grace and everyone who said otherwise was a filthy liar, even if they were family. She was just cultivating in a very focused manner, which required her to have buried her face in a pillow, only communicating in noises that might be mistaken with whines and sobbing.
"To believe you'd be so grumpy about losing... "
She let out a string of incoherent noises at her Granny's words. The old woman shared a look of amusement with the other two, literally married couple.
"Come again?" Big sis asked in a sweet tone, but Shu knew they were teasing her. The Qinglong sniffed and raised her head, cheeks and eyes red and puffy. It would be even more cute if it weren't for the bandages around her body. Actually, scratch that, to them, it was even cuter.
"'mnotgrumpy!"
"C'mon, it's a tie, isn't it?" Big bro said, ruffling her head. Shu harrumphed and slapped his arm away, crossing her arms.
"Nu-uh! Asshole's in the lead!"
"Wait, you count that first sucker punch?" Granny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Qinglong Shu doesn't hide from the truth!" She shouted, throwing her arm up. Big sis nodded slowly, lips pressed together, her body shaking as she tried to hold back her laughter, something the rest of the family didn't bother to do.
"That would be commendable to say if you weren't snotting all over my nice clean floor."
"At least you have a friend now?"
Her neck moved so fast they were afraid it would have snapped. With a growl, she leaned forward, baring her teeth.
"Friend?! I'm going to skin the fucker alive and use it as a jacket for one of our cows once I'm in the lead, mark my words!"
"You shouldn't say that about a fellow clan's member," Big Sis chided her, but Shu wouldn't have any of that, looked away with a childish pout.
"I can say that about a cunt!"
Sure, he was good in a fight and that was fun by itself! Unfortunately it got all tainted by the guy himself! His personality was rotten! Rotten! After doing some more actual research beyond his location and skills, she found out he was a heartbreaker! A womanizer! Not to mention always spending money on booze! He was the definition of a sleazebag! No wonder he was a Golden Devil for no Righteous Clan or Sect would ever accept such a massive fuck up!
Honestly, it was her duty to put him in his place! It only served as a reminder of how hard she had to work to even the score. Already, in her head, she played through the scenarios, remembering the fight and dissecting it for mistakes.
///
"Sir, with all due respect, you have to put a stop to them."
The man known as 'The Undaunted' among his subordinates, for he never lost his cool in war and in peace, looked up with a blank expression, looking at one of his lieutenants. Who was currently breathing and heaving all over his nice clean and more importantly cool air space. With a sigh he focused back on his paperwork, signing away.
"And why is that, soldier?"
The background exploded in cheers, a common occurrence these days. The soldier gaped, looking back and forth between his boss and the outside. Then he stretched his arms out, frantically presenting outside as furious screams occured, as if two rabid beasts were on the loose.
"Uhm, your two problem children essentially try to kill each other on a daily basis?!"
"It's not daily," the Undaunted commented without a care, not looking up. The soldier had enough of that and slammed his hands down, the noise only second to the applause that followed after something that sounded suspiciously like biting human flesh.
"And you don't see a problem with that?!"
The leader sighed and finally looked up. Folding his hands, he raised an eyebrow.
"Listen. I've been at this job for a long time." He twirled his hand at the outside, as the cheers turned into two opposing chantings, each uttering the respective name of the ones they supported. "And those two? They aren't Golden Devils. Not like us. They weren't raised like us. They lack the discipline. They have different ideals and what not. Those ideals tend to clash."
"So you should deal with it!" His subordinate roared, pointing a finger accusingly at him. The Undaunted didn't miss a single beat.
"I am."
That shocked him into silence before he found his words after a small period of stammering.
"What?"
"They deal with it themselves. I don't believe in micromanaging and solving every issue at hand. Good Seeds are Good Seeds, but we shouldn't pamper them." He shrugged almost nonchalantly and began writing his paperwork again. "While they do pick a fight with each other daily, insult each other, degrade each other... during proper drills and missions, they work perfectly fine." He glanced up with a pointed look. "What I am saying is, I allow them to get it out of their systems in a safe environment that is our home instead of out there where every mistake could kill them and us."
"That is a risky approach," the soldier said slowly. Then for an instance he could've sworn he saw a dead look in his leader's eyes before it gave away to the usual bored expression.
"Well, we deal with the cards we have been handed, don't we?"
Before they could finish their talk properly however, another soldier rushed in in a panic. The Undaunted realized it was one of the newbies. Damn, they always panicked like that.
"Sir, they knocked each other out again!"
"I told you, unless they crippled each other, stop reporting it to me!" He barked back. It was like those people didn't realize they had healers just for this occasion!
///
A collab with ObsidianNoir will be my first omake of the thread and it's clocked in at a nice 5338 words. It was pretty fun working together on a doc at the same time albeit a bit weird.
From this, all I want is just a cultivation boost.
