Chapter 13: Sorrow Strikes Tianjin
Blooming flowers, all of different colors, each one sparkling with water droplets. Vung came by each individual flower patch and watered them accordingly. The water lightly trickled on the petals, leaving a dew of water droplets on the petals. "Lucky flowers," she mumbled, "You all don't have to worry about these barriers that hold you guys apart, you can all be with different colors of flowers and you can get along with the same water, why is that?" Vung looked at the night moonlit sky, "You flowers are so lucky, maybe one day we will be as lucky." Vung stood up picking up the water bucket and placing it on the stand. She rested her elbows on the fence which held the flowers in.
"I think so too, I think flower gardens do look prettier with different colors," "We're on the same page then," a familiar voice called. "Vung turned around and saw her ruggedly shaven husband, "Oh Lung! Did you come to see the flowers too?" Vung tried to find an excuse to get out of her husband's way; she didn't want to upset him. Lung went beside Vung and rested his forearms on the fence. "Yes," he replied, Vung took her leave and was about to go, "Wait Vung!" Vung turned around hearing his command, "I wish to talk to you a bit." Vung obeyed and rested her elbows on the fence once again, trying to not look at her husband's eyes, for she knew she would disrespect him that way.
"Vung, don't turn away from me, to have my own wife be afraid of me, that's my worst fear." Vung was happy, she showed a sad face, but she was happy. "That's better; now don't be sad, I just want to talk to you for a couple of moments." Vung smiled, "The gardens…they bloom full blossom this year," Lung nodded agreeing with Vung, "And around this time of the year, we always talk." Lung nodded. "If it's about Drake, then I can't deal with that pain." Lung shook his head, "It's not about Drake this time," Lung turned to look at his wife, "It's about us." Vung was taken back; this was the first time in a long time Lung ever talked about them.
Vung cut him off, "Lung, there is no us anymore because of me," Lung was puzzled. "I look at Sakura, and then I look at Syaoran, and then I realize how much they love each other and how they would not do anything to hurt each other. But I did! I was the reason you're drinking, I was the reason you're father killed our son; I was the reason that your reputation is ruined. I know I don't belong here, but this garden inspires me every time." Lung was touched; Vung had finally hit the soft spot in Lung's heart that made his eyes swell with wetness. "A flower garden only looks pretty with different colors, isn't that right Lung?" Lung nodded, "And a garden is bound to produce offspring right?" Lung was shocked, he was finally letting the message sink in. "Vung, what are you saying?" Lung braced himself for the answer. Vung held her hands closely to her chest, "I'm saying that I'm p-"
"MASTER LUNG!" a man cried out, rushing to the gardens, "Master Lung!" The man with a bandana and brown hair protruding the bandana bowed down to him. "What is it?" Lung asked. "You have a challenge from someone who appears to be part of the Imperial Army; he says if you don't accept his challenge, he will release his soldiers to do their bidding on the town." Lung shot his eyes open, "Are you sure?" he asked. The man nodded, "I'll be right back Vung, this shouldn't take long." Lung squeezed his wife's hands close to his heart and ran off. Vung grabbed his arm before he could go, "We're facing this together!"
Syaoran looked in disgust at the man who stood before him. The man smiled, "What's wrong Syaoran, are you okay? I was surprised to see you alive." Syaoran clenched his teeth as he took his hand and put Sakura behind him. "Wuji…" he muttered, "What do you want here?" Wuji chuckled; he sported a new uniform on him. His armor was weird looking, with Chinese characters on them. "Syaoran, don't try anything stupid," Wuji snapped his fingers, signaling for a large Manchurian man to come out from the back of the soldiers, "Surely you remember him?" Wuji smiled. "Huang!" Syaoran gritted his teeth. "You still alive? Stupid traitor, I will eat you the next time we meet!" Huang smiled, showing off his blood stained teeth.
"What seems to be the problem here?" Lung said as he came toward the front, confronting Wuji, "Oh it's you! Listen General, this land is ours, we can do whatever we want with it, if you violate the laws and burn this town, you will have to object this situation to the emperor." Wuji laughed at Lung Da. "I only issued a challenge," he said as innocently as he could, "And as a gentleman you must accept it." Lung turned to his wife who he saw clearly was distraught. "The answer is no Wuji! I have customers to take care of." Lung turned his back and began to walk away. "Very well then, I believe that you don't care about this town enough, or you don't even care about those damned foreigners because you turn your back on them." Lung stood silently feeling something extremely fishy about Wuji's word. "You know that I will do those things too, this town is nothing to the emperor, you either fight, or see them all die, and all my men will molest the women."
Lung turned his head around, "He's not joking!" Touya said in shock, "But Lung can't fight him, he doesn't know if he'll keep his word." Lung grasped the lower part of his pants; he snapped his fingers with his other hand. "Henry!" he called as a short stubby man came to his side, "Get me my alcohol bottle!" Vung immediately heard this and stopped him, "No!" she shouted, "You can't fight him Lung, especially not with alcohol in your system." Lung pushed his wife aside, "I'll fight you, Wuji, be prepared!" Lung held out his hand as a bottle of alcohol was passed to him. Lung Da popped open the bottle and poured it down his throat. At that moment, Vung was worried for dear life that something was wrong.
Lung Da formed his hands into the shapes of holding teacups and swung them around each other. "Let's go!" he challenged. Wuji snickered, "You think drunken style can defeat me?" Lung laughed hysterically, like a typical drunk. "You think you are so confident that you can handle me sober?" Wuji too the challenge, Lung took the challenge, now was the time to fight.
Wuji started by rushing with his fist out, aimed for Lung's head, Lung Da quickly ducked under the hand, but was met by a kick of the heel to the face. Lung shook off the pain and tried to slide between Wuji's legs and kick him in the balls, but Wuji caught him right when he tried that and picked him up. "Stupid boy!" Wuji kneed him continuously in the gut, Lung Da started to feel the pain, alcohol wasn't doing anything for him. Lung quickly broke out and rolled behind Wuji. Wuji was confused where he went, so Lung took advantage and round housed him in the back of the head.
"I'm through messing around!" Lung jumped in front of Wuji and chopped him in the neck. Wuji was fazed and Lung kicked him in the face. Now Lung Da had the advantage, and running on pure alcohol, started to flow like water, every hit that Wuji attempted was countered by Lung sinking into his head and delivering a punch to the face. Wuji was sick and tired of it, he decided to give it his all, he grabbed Lung by the head. "Now I've got you!" Wuji tried to smash Lung's skull in, but Lung Da poked his eyes with his fingers before he could, and delivered a twirling kick right below his jaw. Lung was triumphant.
Lung stood up with pride, acting sober again. "I've won!" he said to Wuji, "Now that I've won you promised to let all of them go, so leave!" Wuji wiped the blood off his mouth, "Do you really think you've won?" Wuji laughed, "There's more fight in me." Lung Da was confused, he saw a bloody Wuji, all tired and could no longer fight, there was no chance he could go on. "You're crazy!" he said, "The only thing you have left in you is dignity, and it can be preserved if you run now!" Wuji laughed maniacally, "Lung Da, stop worrying what I have left in me, worry about what you have in you!" Lung didn't know what he was talking about.
Suddenly, something hit Lung inside, he didn't know what it was, he only clutched onto his stomach and screamed in pain. Lung Da began coughing really badly, Vung stared with shock. Lung coughed and coughed and coughed, until finally, blood came out of his mouth. "You cheat!" Lung muttered at Wuji, who was laughing hysterically. "That dirty bastard!" Syaoran screamed, "He poisoned Lung Da because he knew he couldn't win!" Vung ran to Lung Da's side. "Lung!" she yelled with tears streaking down her cheeks, "Hold on, I can make an antidote, you have to live for a little while longer." Wuji grabbed Vung by her pretty blonde hair, and grasped her head. "Stupid foreigner!" he screamed as he pulled his head back, ready to smash her face in. Vung only stared at him in fear. Lung with the last ounce of life left, ran in between Vung and Wuji, and got his face smashed in by Wuji's hard helmet. Vung looked in horror.
Wuji laughed as he saw Lung Da bleed all over and his forehead was cracked open. "We've done what I came here to do," Wuji said, then he kneeled down and got to Vung's ear, "As a consolation prize of killing your husband, we won't burn this town. Let's move!" Wuji signaled for all his men to leave.
Vung cried holding her husband's head in her arms. His blood protruding from his forehead wet her chest, but she didn't care. Syaoran, Sakura, Touya, and just about every rebel saw this tragic turn of events. "MASTER!" a man cried, "What will we do without you?" Lung smiled at that comment, "I'm no longer your master," he said with a weak voice, "I'm not your savior either, you all were my saviors, thank you all." "No Lung!" Sakura yelled, "We can't lead this force without your leadership, don't die!" Sakura began to cry for someone she barely knew. "Listen Lung, you're invincible, you're one of my childhood heroes, you can't go like this." Syaoran yelled out with a sad face. Lung stared at everyone, witnessing his bloody body, seeing him so helpless.
"Lung…" Vung whispered, "I'm pregnant with twins…" Lung was heartbroken. Right when he finally had the chance to take care of children, he had to abandon them entirely, along with his wife. "I'm sorry Vung!" Lung said with bloody tears. "For what?" Vung's voice began to crack. "I've failed you and Drake, and my two other children to be." Vung sniffed with a broken heart. "I've always mistreated you because I wanted you to never be mad at yourself, and only at me, I'm sorry." Lung Da's voice began to crack away, "I love you Vung…" Vung finally broke out in full tears. She had never heard that in so long. "I love you too…" Vung stuttered with each word. Her cries put sad faces on all the rebels, Sakura and Syaoran could only stare, and they held their hands tighter with each second.
"Vung, tell our children," Lung began to break his voice as he said this, "That I will visit them every day in some way, shape, or form." Lung began to cry uncontrollably, like when he cried when he let his first son down. "What do you want to call our children Lung?" Lung stared at Vung, he could no longer see, his vision was red and blurred. "If…it's…two boys…call one Drake…" Vung nodded, seeing as how he wanted to hold that name, "If…it's two girls…call one…Fina!" Vung agreed, "Those are beautiful names!" she replied, "They have a beautiful mother!" Lung finally stopped breathing, his grip on Vung's hand loosened, his eyes closed, his heart, stopped. Vung lightly stroked his hair, knowing that it was inevitable to do anymore. She looked at him, she smiled, she never wanted to let go.
Though a little late to the event, Touya approached Vung and Lung, he slowly separated the two. "NO!" Vung said as she was slowly being separated from Lung's dead body. Touya silently hushed her by sticking his hand out, stopping her from coming and closer from Lung's body. "Lung…Da…" she said weakly. Touya stared at the body, then he looked at Sakura and Syaoran, then he thought of something. "A flower garden only looks pretty with different colors, wouldn't you agree Touya?" Touya looked at Lung's face, tears started to form in his eyes. Touya slowly hovered over Lung's body and took off his white headband and raised it in the air with his fist. Touya turned around, waving the white headband in the air, people were wondering what he was doing, but they knew it wasn't too bad; he wanted to pay his respects.
"THIS IS A GREAT MAN!" Touya yelled out to make sure the whole town heard him, "This man should be honored in life, death, and eternity." Touya's tears started to drip down. "This man deserves only the best for the life after death!" Touya cried as he began to open his headband fully, revealing a white cloth. "I will let everyone know, how great Lung Da was!" Touya slowly kneeled towards Lung Da's face. "Take care, my brother!" Touya said proudly as he covered his face with the white cloth. The red blood immediately soaked up the white cloth.
Grief among the rebels spread throughout the town when they had found out Lung Da died. One by one, each rebel slowly took a limb of Lung Da, Syaoran and Touya participated in carrying his body to be buried. Like a church assembly, everyone was serious and grieving; they slowly hauled Lung Da's body.
Back at the Kingdom 2 days later:
The emperor just came out of the shower, with only a towel over himself. He searched around his quarters for his imperial dragon robe. "Servant," he called out, nobody answered, "Where the hell is my dragon robe?" The emperor looked around, until suddenly, a man wearing his dragon robe appeared. "Wuji," the emperor looked at him shocked, "How dare you wear the imperial dragon robe?" Wuji laughed. "What are you talking about? How dare you speak like that to your emperor?" The emperor was outraged, "Wuji? What are you doing?" Wuji snapped his fingers as a large man appeared behind the emperor and put a tight grip over him. "Huang!" the emperor screamed, "What are you doing?"
Wuji smiled as he touched the emperor's face. "For invading in the private property of the emperor, and using the emperor's royal bath, I hereby sentence you to death. The emperor stared at Wuji in terror, "No Wuji, think about what you're doing, this is immediate death sentence for you." Wuji laughed and pointed at Huang. "Huang," Wuji called, "Are you hungry?" Huang with a sick smile on his face chuckled. "Yes, I'm very hungry!" Wuji pointed at the emperor, "Then have lunch, today's special is the former emperor." Huang licked his lips, "My pleasure!" The emperor, in his last breath of life screamed in eternal torment. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Character Bio:
Huang
Birthday: October 5
Age: 32
Zodiac: rooster
Occupation: Assassin
Favorite Hobby: Lifting weights
Least favorite Hobby: Being injured
Favorite Foods: Raw meat
Least favorite Food: Vegetables
Favorite Colors: turquoise and gray
Favorite flowers: Hates them
Something he can cook: nothing, he eats it raw
Special Talent: Is not sickened by eating human flesh
Wish List: A girlfriend
Profile: Huang, the sick cannibal. From Manchurian childhood, he was brought into a world where food was always scarce. One day, his father decided that in order to live, they must eat on of the family members. Huang's brother was chosen and that's when he got the taste of human flesh. Huang has since been in top physical condition to survive out in the world, and it brought him as far as getting a reputation and becoming an assassin. However he soon eats his clients. Yes this man is truly sick!