Mudan

When I awoke the next day, the field had lifted. Sadly, I never made it past the archway, as Shen had glued my arms together and captured my ankles in silk shackles.

I was starting to accept the dark reality of my future. Every chance to escape rendered itself null just as it registered in my mind.

The Ajisai said that the Veil in his mind had weakened. Clearly it wasn't weak enough. I didn't know what I'd do anymore.

After that entire episode, Shen pretended as though nothing happened. Like he hadn't cried into my chest, begging for forgiveness. We left the abandoned monastery and he tugged harshly on my webs, forcing me to hike through the thick forest with him.

"Do you even know where you're going?" I asked, irritated by how long we were walking. It felt like everything looked the same. "We're not even near the road we were on. You're lost, aren't you?"

"Silence," Shen ordered. "I need to focus."

"Just admit you're a loser and that we're lost," I said, mocking him.

Shen rolled his eyes. "And you're still so damn annoying," he grumbled.

"So annoying but you still kiss me whenever you can, huh?" I retorted, feeling unnecessary. I watched his eyes intently on his reaction.

He froze for a second, the emotion fleeting. His slip-up was quickly covered with his indifferent mask.

"I can't wait till you die. I'll finally be free of you," he said sharply, as if to hurt my feelings. Now that I knew he was vulnerable deep inside, I would still dig until he killed me or decided to free me himself.

"You'll never be free. When I'm finally gone you'll realize how badly Old Master has used you. Then you'll cry because you've done irreversible damage for a man who would only bat an eyelid as soon as you're no longer useful to him."

Shen pulled me into his chest, lifting my chin forcibly to stare into the black void that were his eyes. My breath caught in my throat at how close we were, and a breeze of fear slivered up my spine.

"If you keep talking, I'm going to paralyze you until you can no longer speak. Keep testing me."

I stayed quiet after that.

An hour had passed in dreadful silence until we arrived at a wooden shack somewhere near the town.

The shack looked abandoned and weathered, its wood rotten and cracked. There were three horses tied to a fence nearby, chewing on random hay. We trudged towards the front door, when it suddenly flew open, the twins tripping and stumbling out messily.

"Young Master, you're here!" Bhen said, on the verge of hyperventilating. "I think we're in trouble. Old Master keeps projecting to the Crystal and we haven't answered yet."

"Kai is a goner," Chu said, shaking her head. "Once Old Master finds out he went rogue and is out trying to kill the traitor, he's going to be punished himself."

"Why haven't you answered yet?" Shen asked. "Do you want him to think you to be incompetent?"

"With all due respect, Young Master, you don't get to play the incompetent card when you let the traitor escape and kill Yura," Chu said sharply, making Bhen gasp.

She glared daggers at him with her green eyes, still visibly trying to hold her tongue. Shen poked his cheek with his tongue, looking as though he were on the verge of attacking Chu. If they broke into a scuffle, perhaps I'd get a chance to run.

"Fine, you want us to all get punished together? So be it. I don't care, you'll still get off worse than me," Shen said indifferently, pushing them aside and tugging me into the shack.

"What an asshole," I heard Chu mumble under her breath. When she told me Shen no longer cared about them I thought it had been an exaggeration. They probably didn't realize how much of it was Old Master's fault and not mine.

The shack was dusty and smelled like old cloth. There was nothing much to it, only rotting chairs around a round table, with a peeled bean bag lonesome in a corner. I made my way towards it, surprisingly getting the liberty from Shen.

"What happened to you, Young Master?" Bhen asked while setting the Crystal up on the table. "You were gone for so long we thought the traitor had escaped again."

"Old Master isn't our only issue," Shen muttered. "The Ajisai are in Gaissan. They know about us, we were ambushed on the way here."

"What?" The twins asked in unison.

"How?"

"They attacked our carriage, then held us captive in an abandoned monastery," Shen explained, sounding disgusted to admit it. "There's a mole among us. Either that or they've been spying on us since Mistress Miao's betrayal. Because they know everything that's happened since then."

The twins stared at each other, completely bewildered. "Do you think they know why we are here?" Bhen asked.

"If they're here for whatever Master's dropping off at that palace, chances are they already know what's in it. We're screwed, he's going to lose it when he finds out everything that happened."

"I have an idea of who the mole is," Chu said, squaring her shoulders, staring straight at me.

"Me?" I asked in disbelief. Shen turned between us in confusion.

"The traitor?" Shen rose an eyebrow. "Why would it be her?"

"Oh come on, Young Master," Chu clicked her tongue. "You seriously can't make the connection? She's the only one who'd know about Mistress Miao's betrayal and all we've been doing up till now."

"That's true, she did have plenty of time when she escaped to warn the Ajisai so they could ambush you," Bhen agreed, reluctant as he thought about it.

I scowled and shook my head. "Are you people dumb? Why would I run into the arms of an enemy Clan? I don't even know what you're doing in Nephati!"

"Running to an enemy Clan would be nothing big for you. You and your mother are traitors, after all," my head heated up as soon as Chu mentioned my mother. "You know damn well it would put you in a good position to be on their side."

"They said they would kill her, there's no reason she'd be on their side," Shen said as a matter of fact, surprising me.

Chu scoffed. I had a feeling her suspicion had everything to do with her dislike for me.

"They said they would kill her, yet here she is comfortably lounging on a bean bag while we're in deep shit," she spat. "Doesn't sound right to me. If anything it sounds like all this is working out for her."

"She probably killed Yura because she figured out what she was doing," Bhen joined in. I rolled my eyes, they were getting ridiculous.

"I killed Yura to make Kai pay for what he tried to do to me. Not only that, but she was in my way when I escaped. Nothing else. I might be whatever renegade you think I am, but I am in no way involved with those loonies."

Chu leaned against the table, insincerely grinning at me. "Maybe, but you know even if you were involved, we couldn't do anything to harm you since we have to keep you alive for Old Master. So why don't you drop the act and just confess already?"

"It's not her," Shen insisted through gritted teeth. "I've been with her the whole time."

"And when you weren't?" Chu fired back. "Young Master, she'd been gone for hours. Anything could have happened between then!"

I couldn't believe I was being accused of being a mole right now. It had been so long, I felt kind of special that they thought me to still be capable.

"You went too easy on her, Young Master," Bhen muttered. Shen snapped his head to Bhen in a threatening motion, moving in on him slowly.

"What was that?"

Bhen sighed, looking helpless and frustrated. "Nothing has changed, nothing at all. "

"Speak up, Bhen!" Shen commanded angrily. "Since you have something to say!"

"Fine!" Bhen caved, his voice cracking with nerves. "I just think you let the traitor walk over you again. She escaped, killed Yura, stabbed Kai's eye out and made him go insane and you're still defending her! It's like the temple all over again. You're protecting her and in the end everyone else, including you, suffers."

Shen chewed on his lip, staring at Bhen in an uncomfortable silence. He was making Bhen sweat, the twin was unable to look his former friend in the eyes.

"So you think I'm just weak, huh?" Shen asked him. When Bhen didn't answer, Shen poked him hard in the shoulder, making him wince. "You think I'm still that stupid Shen that would run around taking falls for a girl?"

"I didn't say that, Young Master. But your omission has compromised us to the point where our mission is endangered. It's like even when you're against her, you're wrapped around her finger."

"As per usual," Chu hummed in agreement.

Heat settled on my cheeks. I would have enjoyed their drama had it not surrounded me. I didn't even know how we ended up here, but I was so, so embarrassed.

Shen tossed disdainful looks between the twins, cussing under his breath. "When we get back to the temple, I'm getting you two lashes for disrespecting me. What you've just said to me makes me sick."

Bhen and Chu sighed again, realizing they did more harm speaking up than staying quiet. The Crystal glowed yellow again. "Open that damn Projection and let's get this over with," Shen demanded quietly.

Hatred seeped into my stomach when the familiar face of my father appeared in the light of the Crystal.

He didn't look like he aged since I last saw him. His hair was longer, tied into a low ponytail as he donned the silk black Renge robe. His eyes were still sharp and sinister, uncaring for those beneath him. He glared at Shen and the twins, his jaw clenched hard.

"How busy are you that you are unable to receive my Projections?" Master Yei of the Renge Clan gritted through his teeth. "I have been attempting to get a hold of you lot for hours! Explain yourselves!"

"Our apologies, Old Master," all of them chorused and bowed. "It's just that we've run into lots of problems on our side," Chu said nervously.

"You should be able to sort all issues out among yourselves. I expect you to return home before the end of this week."

"Old Master..." Bhen said in a small voice. "Yura.."

Shen abruptly stepped forward. "Kai was grievously injured and Yura has been killed, Old Master. I accept full responsibility for what has happened." He said, bowing.

Old Master rose an eyebrow. "Killed by whom? Injured by whom?"

Their eyes synonymously turned to me. I was out of his view frame so he couldn't see me. That was until Shen pulled me up from my seat and toward him.

He kicked the back of my shin, forcing me to hit my knees. I glared at him, then turned my eyes on the rotten man I knew as my father.

"Yei," I uttered monotonously, showing no respect.

My father's jaw twitched and his eyes pierced through me loathingly.

"You," he hissed. "You owe me your death."

"I owe you nothing," I countered with equal resentment. "You owe me a mother and a childhood."

"Wei Shen, don't tell me you let this traitor kill Yura and injure Kai," he growled, still not looking away from me.

Shen gulped hard behind me. "I apologize Old Master. She managed to escape and cause damage. But I've made her pay since then. Please punish me when I return home."

"I most certainly will!"

"Old Master... there's something else," Bhen stuttered. "The Ajisai... they are in Nephati."

"They ambushed Young Master Shen. We think they-"

"They are in Nephati?" Yei gasped. "And you only tell me this now?"

"We had just found out, Old Master-" Shen tried to say, but got cut off by my father's loud bellowing.

There were sounds of objects hitting the ground violently. "You incompetent fools! Our biggest enemies are in the same city as you and you inform me now? Do you know how valuable the information you carry is? Get that to the Palace Nahiti as soon as you damn can and leave!"

"And as soon as you return, fifty lashes will be issued to each of you for your negligence! As well as Kai, I do not care how injured he is!"

"Old Master... Kai is-" Chu swallowed hard as well. "He had an episode and disappeared. His entire body lit with blue flames. No one knows where he is, but his on a mission to kill Mudan."

"Don't say her name to me," Old Master snapped, as though I weren't right infront of him. "She is a traitor and nothing else. Not even worthy of a name given to her by another traitor. If Kai does not resurface in time for your mission, let him know I will kill him myself."

The Projection ended untimely and unkindly, leaving everyone standing looking stupid. Shen picked me up forcibly by my collar before tossing me aside, causing me to hit the edge of the table with my back. I winced and glared at him, only to see him hatefully staring at me already.

"This is all your damn fault."