Mountain Flower
Ying stood there stunned for a moment, unsure of what just happened. The image of the infamous beserker, Li Wei hitting the ground was still vivid in front of her. The crowds are cheering heavily. The bystanders clapped and whistled merrily while the royal clan leaders busy murmured in their seats next to her.
"That was bullshit!" She shouted uncontrollably. She was about to rush down the brawling stage before her dad stopped her.
"Shush, my daughter," said Ying's dad, "please control your temper in front of the other clan leaders."
Feeling upset, she scoffed and walked off. Passing by one of the servant, she whispered, "I will be waiting at the backstage, bring Li Wei to me."
"Yes, my lady."
Today was a special day. One that many of the wolf clans had been waiting for months to come. The Proving Day, as many refers to. It was the day for many potential heir or future clan leaders to show their fighting superiority. And they had trained hard just for this coming day. Much to Ying's disgust however, to the 5 minor clans that serves under the Butterfly Clan, the tournament was important to them as it was an opportunity to prove their worth, and get the chance to marry the Butterfly Clan's only daughter.
Lord Feng, father to Ying and Lord of the Butterfly Clan, felt pressured by the fall of Li Wei to the son of Wu Tang, heir of Yao Dao Clan. The lost was not foreseen, for who can beat Li Wei in a fists fight. Definitely not anyone from the main or minor clans. The conversation they had began to replay inside his head.
"It seems that my daughter has taken a favor in you," said Lord Feng towards Li, in the meeting room where the clan lords used to gather. "As a clan lord governing 5 minor clans, it will be our best interest to run the usual tradition of finding the worthy heir to marry my daughter."
Feng walked around Li as he travels across the room. His blindness doesn't seems to hinder his movements. The blind folds did a good job hiding his two socketless eyes.
"But as a father," continues Lord Feng, "It is my best interest to have my daughter wed the person she loves."
He stopped behind Li, slowly bended over and whispered to Li ear close, "and you are a special man, to be able to get her react in such a way that even her father could not.
"I do not know how you did it. But you managed to being out the warmth in her cold icy heart."
Lord Feng stood up straight, and started pacing around the room. "She became like this since the death of her mother. I tried many ways to raise her by my own, to give my love to her as my daughter. But I am a busy man. There are times when I cant met her needs. And there are times when I can't be there for her. Her desire for company was replaced by guards and servants. I won't be surprised if she was to felt alone with such authority in her hand. There are no friends, just people to be ordered around."
"Li, wake up," a soft paw touches his cheeks, "Li, wake up. Are you okay?"
Li slowly opened his eyes, his head is spinning. There are sharp pains in his eyes, and his arms felt heavier than ever before. The vision of Ying started coming to his view. Ying placed her paw on his forehead.
"He is burning," her words are blurry, but distinctive, "call the doctor!"
"How is it possible?" said one of the figure standing behind Ying, "he was fine seconds ago. Well, the way he beat me up was pretty quick..."
Ying looked at Li, worried. Then something came to her, "get the servant that pour the tea to him. Get that cup, check whether there is poison in it. GO, Now!"
"Right away, Lady Ying."
"The tournament," started Feng, " has been kept over generations. It started off during my great grand father, to keep the power of the group in check. And, as a friendly match to judge the futures heir of the clans. Whether they are competent, intellegent or simply tactical, all will come into play on that stage. Its a friendly competition.
"The stage is designed in a way that there are two choices to choose from. And from how the two persons face their opponent, it will tell their character.
"Aggressive opponent will tend to charge head in and prefer to fight it out in the middle ring. Most falls into this category," said Lord Feng as he sat at the table edge in front of Li, "others will decide to use the ringout to have their opponent disqualified. Call it a tactic, effective enough to get a win without much trouble. And you don't have to be physically tougher to beat your opponent."
"You will… take the place of the minor group Zhang Hei in this round," said Feng, "sadly their clan leader wasn't able to… acquire a heir to enter the match. I have spoken to him, and he agreed."
"Lady ying, we found the culprit," said the guard as they dragged over a goat servant, "he had the poison package with him, My guard saw him threw the drug away. He almost walked away unnoticed. It was a close call."
Lady Ying went furious, pulling the servant down on his knees, she spoke, gritting her teeth, "I hope the money is worth it. You have just made my man getting humiliated, and beaten out there over a match he can easily win."
"I am sorry... it was Sun's order I-"
"Throw him to jail. I will deal with him later.
"Doctor, how is he," asked Ying. Turning to Li.
"He is doing well," said the sheep doctor, "the poison runs a little deep into his vein. But he is fine. His neuroconscious is untouched, and I can have him walking and jumping in no time."
"Thank you doctor," said Ying, "now, if you excuse me. I got some beating to do."
"Should there be anything to counter the lady's doubt or dissatisfaction. The lady can challenge the winner of the battle," said Lord Feng, "after all, she is looking at her future POTENTIAL husband, it will be bad if the husband cant provide her sense of security."
Lord Feng walks around the room, "I was placed the third during my time, and my would be fiance actually went down beating the first and second combatants." He looked at the family painting, eyeing his disceased wife, "such a powerful woman."
Feng scratches his head, "i was having a stomach ache that day…cant concentrate you see. Lost in my first fight.
"She challenged me to a weapon duel, and both of us ends up using our favorite sword against each other, Tian Dao and Di Jian. The swords of Heaven and Earth."
"The fight was intense, but she knew who i was and what i was capable of. And I did not let her down that day."
Lord Feng then turned towards Li.
"I do not think a one on one duel among our clans would pose a huge problem for you. And I think Ying is wise enough not to challenge you, because she has no reason to.
"Unless the situation changes, I do not see any need of my daughter to fight."
Ying stepped onto the stage, approaching the now cheering Sun of the Yao Dao Clan.
"Ah, Lady Ying, how nice of you to come up here," said Sun.
"I do not approve of your victory," Ying spoke, pointing at him, " but you can prove to me that you are indeed THAT good enough to beat Li Wei."
"I-I do not want to hurt you, my lady," said Sun.
"Well, it runs in the tradtion for a lady to challenge the winner, correct?" Said ying. Then she raised her voice out loud so the entire audience can hear, "I challenge you, Sun from the Yao Dao Clan. Prove your worth to me."
"Ermmm... Lord Feng?" the servant stuttered.
"No problem, the history is remaking itself," said Feng with a smirk, "I approve."
Sun stood there stunned. But the crowd started cheering. The Butterfly Clan guards started crossing their shield with their sword. A formal method of cheering.
Sun was too scared to back down from a challenge, as doing so will demote him of his honor and void him of the chance to marry Ying.
"Alright, my lady," said Sun, "Please know that I had no choice."
"Ready!" Shouted the gongman.
Both of them took their stance.
As soon as the gong sounded, Ying rushed in, closing the distance between the two. Sun threw out a punch without hesitation, and Ying managed to parry it. She dived under quick, hit his knee and caused Sun to topple. Next, she hit his chest before going at his jaw. The hits connected flawlessly, and Sun staggered on his feet with his hands over his jaw.
The crowd sounded with awe and woos. It was a surprise seeing the maiden of the Butterfly Clan being so skilled in combat. Sun huffed with disatisfaction. He charged in, sending a whirl of punches over Ying. One of it brushed across her cheek. Using her smaller body, she dodged easily. She parried the last punch from Sun, and hit him staight at the chest with her palm. Sun staggered, now having difficulty to breath.
Ying took the opportunity and swept him off the floor, followed up by pinning him down using her elbow. With that, the fight ended.
Holding Sun at the throat with her elbow tip, with his legs pinned and arms trapped beneath his own body, Ying muttered, "clearly, you weakling are no match for me. Not to say even Li Wei. Know that you have not only disgrace your clan, but harm my man without good reason. I WILL have you hang if he is to die of poison. But I will let you live with this humiliation forever, you filth!"
With haste, she dropped him to the floor, and signaled the referee to end the match.
"Winner! Pei Ying from the Butterfly Clan!" announced the referee as the crowd cheered.
The father of Sun stood up, seems surprise at his son's lost.
"Please calm yourself, Lord of Yao Dao Clan" said Feng.
"Well, damn if I may," said Wu Tang, eyeing over Ying, "such unfortunate event, Pei Ying would had been a powerful Daughter In Law."
"Much thank you, but I see my daughter not as a fighter," said Lord Feng, "she is more specialized in her intelligent. But i'd trained her well to prepare better for emergency."
"Aye, it seems my son could have been a better fighter if he is not to dwell in pointless calligraphy," said Wu Tang.
"Hmmm, calligraphy is a art of tradition, you shouldnt see that as a hindrance, it spoke of history and culture."
"Unfortunately, it is not enough to wed your daughter. Its my lost today, Lord Feng," said Wu Tang as they bowed at each other.
After seeing Sun walked of the stage. The crowd cheered some more for her victory. But the question remains, who's next? The servant came to her, "my lady, do you wish to continue? But you… Errr… how should i put it. Should i declare no winner at this point?"
Ying thought for a moment, she thought of something quick and laughed at the idea. The crowd and the servant went numbed looking at her, confused.
"Has Li recovered?" asked Ying.
"Err.. yeah, not completely," said the servant, "a bit dizzy, but he is fine."
"Good enough, i cant match him in his normal condition anyway. Get him here," Ying ordered.
"At once, my lady," said the servant.
Soon after, the crowd started cheering, the guards playfully pushed and shoved a confused Li on to stage. "Get up there, you lucky man!"
Then, Li and Ying stood there looking at each other. The world around seems to stopped for a breath moment.
Ying was the first to greet. "Hey, Li," said Ying with a sly smile, "didn't see this coming, did you?"
Li was about to turn and run, but the guard laughed and pushed him back into the ring.
"Go get her!" They laughed.
"Ready?" shouted the gong man. Ying posed her stance. While Li remained hesitated.
"Whatever you do, don't punch me, try others," Ying muttered, "just try something else."
One punch from him, it means unending pain.
The moment the gong sounded, Ying charged in quick, she went behind Li and stepped on his knee, throwing him off balance and hit the floor waist high.
Seizing the opportunity, Ying hit him square at the jaw with her palm. However, what followed was an unexpected scene, where Li continued kneeling on the ground, watching Ying sobering over her hand.
"OWH owh owh owh..!" cried Ying as she gripped her hand in pain, "you are as hard as a freaking Rock! You freaking overgrown wolf!"
Lord Feng was unable to judge from his seat, "Did my daughter just sworn?"
"Err… yes, my lord," said the servant.
"What happened?"
"Ying just hit Li on the face, and…. Ermm.. now she looks like she had hurt her hand.…"
Feng felt silence, confused before he laughed out loud. Shocking his servant and the nearby clan lords.
"Shut up, dad!" Shouted an embarrassed Ying from the stage.
Ying then turned to a confused Li in front of her, "lets continue."
She rushed in and quickly did a few jab on Li. None of it has any effect on the big wolf, and it caused her fists more pain. She tried kicking, dodging and kick some more. Li Wei attempted to grab her, possibly hoping to ringout. But she was too quick for him. Resorting to another method, she dropped Li to his knee again. This time, she leaped over to his back, attempting to strangle him to submission. His arms is too big for her to twist, his body is too hard to punch at, and the neck was too large for her to warp her arms. She was hitting a dead end... again.
Soon, Li recovered and stood up. She was lifted way off the ground. She felt her self slipping, desperately trying to cling on. With last resort, she ended up pulling his ear and face instead.
"What is happening on stage now?" asked Feng when he heard his servant snickers.
"Your daughter is… ermmm.. trying to pull Li's face off. I think…"
"What for?"
The servant snickers some more as Li started spinning around the stage with Ying holding on his back, "… desperate measures…"
Feng laughed out loud again.
"Shut up, dad!" The respond came quick.
Ying managed to drop herself on the floor and attempted a leap kick. Li however managed to caught her by her leg. Without letting go of her, Ying was left hanging upside down, desperately trying to cover her skirt.
"You dont grab me like that! Put me down this instance!" Squealed Ying in embarrassment, "This is not proper handling!"
"Thats a lot of… shouting," said Lord Feng. "How is my daughter doing?"
"Doesn't seems like she is doing well, my lord."
"Is she hurt? Did Li hurt her?"
"Not yet. Sir. Li Wei is doing his best to survive Ying's rampage, i mean… attack."
"Ah... Good enough," said Feng with a smirk.
"Your daughter is doing her best to bring down Li wei, my lord."
"Yes… persistent, just like her mother," said Feng, "ah, good times."
Ying staggered back, unsure of what needs to be done to win anymore. She sat down, panting hard. Li Wei is barely having a scratch. To be frank, he is not doing much in the match. Ying just tired herself out. The crowd grows silence over time.
"Fine," she muttered, barely able to catch her breath, "I surrender. You win…"
The crowd was silence for a moment, before a slow clap started, and the rest of the audiences follows. While most of them acknowledged that Li is truely the strongest among their clans, some of them have doubt of having Li being Ying's husband, saying he is not bright enough or is too big for her smaller body.
"Does that means she is going to marry him now?" said one of the bystanders.
"Who knows," answered his friend, " they looks nice together."
"That fight looks something like me and my wife," said a pig. His friends started eyeing at him. "Well, sort of. Cant say we get along all the time, right?"
"The winner! Li Wei from..." the referee stuttered... "Er... which clan?"
"Call him, the Red Beserker..." said Ying with a satisfied smile.
"Alright. Winner! Li Wei The Red Beserker!"
Lord Feng stood up from his chair, clapping his hands.
"They looks kind of… connects in some way," said one of the clan lord.
"Well, it is unfortunate for my lost. But i presume we will have a very powerful warrior in our arsenal for future expansion?"
"And maybe next generation to come," said Feng.
"Expecting grand kids soon, lord Feng?"
Feng laughed. "That i will leave it for them to decide."
"I do am wondering of the differences in size. it might be inconvenient for... interactions?"
"Well," answered Lord Feng, "they will manage."
As the crowd dispersed, Wu Tang with his son can be seen approaching Li and Ying.
"Li Wei," said Wu Tang with his son standing next to him, "I was informed of the tragic my son had caused to you. I apologize for what my son had done in to dishonor the tradition of the tournament. Please accept my apology."
"I don't see such violation as light offence, lord Wu Tang of Yao Dao Clan," scoffed Ying, "if Li is to die of poison, i would have your son ha-" she was cut off by Li with a small jolt at her shoulder. She looked at Li, face softened. Li simply waved it off.
"Okay, fine. Apology accepted, but don't try that again." said Ying.
"My sincere apology, Lady Ying. Wish you two have a happy marriage ahead," said Wu Tang, "We shall take our leave now."
Ying was blushing as she turns to Li, " haha, he said marriage, he-"..
Li only gave a confused look at Ying, "ah… Nevermind," said Ying as she tried to cover her blushed face, "I can do the planning."
"Li, i hope you're happy," Ying playfully made a grumpy face, "i just got myself embarrassed in front of people just for you."
Li only scratched his head in respond.
"Nah, its okay," said Ying, "if it is you, its worth it."
End of Chapter