12. Pushed Downhill

Creak!

"Come out."

Someone spoke with a hoarse voice intending to scare the two men, who had been waiting patiently at the same time they were also freaking out.

Feng Shao was first to stand up, fixing his pale blue robes that had just gotten dirty whilst sitting on the soil. He straightened his body and took a step then bypassed Lui Xian as he walked past the open doors.

He looked up at the man who had just unlocked the lock and felt very small. The other was tall and big and Feng Shao seemed to be an ant being stared down by an elephant.

He could do nothing but be obedient afraid of being flattened to a piece of paper. He quietly followed behind his huge frame. His eyes were fixed on the hilt of the sword that was on the waist of their captor. Feng Shao could see that it weighed a lot and a normal man like him could not even lift a small version of it.

He sighed as he continued to move onwards never turning to look behind him. His mind was immersed in some worrisome thoughts. 'How am I going to get out of here. I also have to get rid of this imbecile before returning to the village.'

Sigh.

He had been living peacefully after a long struggle, but the arrival of Lui Xian once again plunged him back in all these troublesome situations. He hated this so much.

It did not take long for Lui Xian to follow behind him. He was so quiet and also never looked at Feng Shao. He was clutching his hand not even feeling any pain. He was, on one hand, dissing at the weakling,

'He just blamed Me. For what. Weakling. All he knows is to yap around without knowing any skill. I want to leave him here and return to my usual life. Although it's not perfect but there is still my undying love for him.' Just the thought of him eased his mind quite a lot.

But it was not for too long. He was thrushed from behind and scolded to move fast. So when he almost tipped over he secretly cursed at these people who were imprisoning them.

Both the two men and their captor trotted towards the mouth of the cave as they wandered through a narrow path following the light that was at the far end of the cave.

They walked for a while before stopping outside only to see a low land area filled with trees covering the whole ground. They could not see anything else from high up the crest. Only the gentle breeze graced their skin as if comforting them in their tough times.

Gradually, little birds started showing up, and were flying about but when they caught on the presence of the four, they scurried away leaving only leaves being blown by the wind. The sky was starting to fill with grey clouds. And the sun was slowly being overpowered as it sunk deep in the clouds, vanishing from the world. A looming darkness taking the spotlight, also adding a spooky atmosphere to everyone on site.

"Where is this?" Feng Shao asked knowing very well that he wasn't going to get an answer. He suddenly felt a large hand behind his back as he was pushed off the edge with a single swoop. The force threw him off and all he could do was free fall from a high area. His arms flapping, trying to fight against the law of nature.

Ahhhh! Ahhhh!

He screamed his lungs out feeling the chills of wind on his skin. His eyes were also wide open, tears almost falling and his hair flurrying upwards blowing away. An intensive force was pressing him down towards dear earth.

All the calmness had long disappeared. His face was ashen, his eyes were moist and very dense with fear. He was falling at a high speed heading towards a prickly tree. In the mid way, he closed his eyes waiting for the impact but when he didn't feel any pain he slowly opened his frightful eyes only to see that he was still hanging in the air.

He looked up to see Lui Xian who was grabbing onto him by the collar. His attention was somewhere else. He was grabbing onto a shoot at the edge of the cliff and it was slowly breaking and slipping from his sweaty hands.

"Hang on if you don't want to turn into mush down there." He warned as he gauged the area, trying to find a safer place to land. Lui Xian was thankful that he kept practising his martial arts these days, or else they would have ended up in dire consequences.

He tactfully moved from the top to the bottom while producing swooshing sounds. He was careful as he surveyed the whole area to find a much safer landing. The two men landed on a tree branch. They both looked up for the two men who had pushed them down without caring if they were going to be safe or severely injured. After not even catching a glimpse of them, the two separated and continued giving each other cold shoulders. If someone said that these two were hugging and saving each other a moment ago, then no one would believe them.

However, Feng Shao would turn and steal a glance at the other wanting to thank him. The person he was looking for had long left his side and was busy looking at the surroundings. With no one to talk to, he just followed him quietly not wanting to irritate him.

Lui Xian slightly raised his ears while he listened to some unusual sounds that were just approaching where they were. He clutched his hands into fists. He wondered why he wasn't getting any rest today.

He turned to Feng Shao, "Don't leave here and don't run. I will be back." He leaped onto another tree leaving a defenceless Feng Shao in a daze as he looked in the direction he had disappeared to. Lui Xian moved from one tree to the other while surveying the area.

"I wonder why he saved me? I don't want to owe him anything. He can't be forgiven at all." Feng Shao spoke to no one in particular. As he searched for a place stable enough to sit.

Swoosh!

A young lad dressed in white robes holding a wooden pipe suddenly appeared in front of him from out of nowhere. It freaked him out and he almost fell down from the tree, but he was lucky to hold onto the branch fast enough.

"Who are you? And why are you here? Are you perhaps one of those spies sent by the Emperor? Master has already dealt with you all. Do you think you have some luck to escape?" The young lad questioned, his face showing that he's annoyed.

'He is young but very talkative and annoying.' Feng Shao thought taking a step back. His eyes continued to look at the young boy who had just raised his pipe to his mouth getting ready to attack. He blew some air inside and a glint of a needle reflected by light flashed towards Feng Shao who could not dodge but stare at it as it pierced his neck.

He immediately felt drowsy and fell down.