(Almost three weeks ago)

After several days of rain, due to the weather changing after such a destructive fight that had happened just a couple of days ago, the guide of Jusenkyo could finally leave his house and check the full damage that the cursed springs had received after the flood. Just looking at the place where each individual spring used to be, he knew that it would take years before each individual cursed spring reaffirmed itself, maybe even decades, but sooner or later, this cursed place will take more lives.

Sighing at the kind of job he had now, what with all the curses now acting at random with each animal that had tried to drink of the now small lake that Jusenkyo had become, pulling them in, resulting in all kinds of changes; if someone would come here searching for a cure, well, they will find that such a thing would be impossible, not that they could be cured anyway, they were after all just exchanging one curse for another… if they were lucky.

Either way, his job was still the same, no matter if they had just one or dozens of cursed springs to look after, his job was still the same, not that people listened to his warnings, but he also had one more job, one that nobody had given to his family, no, this was a self imposed one, something that he felt he needed to do.

Walking for a bit, he reached the place where his other job was, a place that many people would think was not that important, but it was here that he had seen with his own eyes one of the most selfless acts a person could do for another. Looking at the statue of the young boy, the guide felt a certain melancholy just remembering the event, such a tragic end for someone that had been so brave, so in its honor he had decided to look after it. Even if nobody knew of the actions of this brave boy, his family will continue to watch over it, that's the least Hibiki Ryoga deserved.

He was looking at the almost life-like look of the statue, still wondering how it could happen and for what reason the technique the young Hibiki Ryoga had used turned his body into solid stone when he heard the arrival of several people. His eyes almost almost felt from his face due to how much he widened them in surprise at who had just appeared; they were tall, strong and proud, they were members of the Nujie zu, the Village of Women Heroes, better known for their japanese name, Joketsuzoku, the Chinese Amazons.

"I cannot believe it," the words were uttered by who seemed to be the leader of the three as this one looked at the statue, her eyes focusing on what could be considered a piece of art for those that didn't know the true story behind it.

"Did you doubt Elder Liling? I think at this point there's no reason to think that the elder is wrong whenever she receives one of her visions Qiang," the green haired woman said to her leader, as she playfully put her hands behind her back and slightly teased the taller woman, her short hair and adorable features complemented her playful voice, while her leader was almost stoic, with her long pale red braided hair almost reaching her small back, and her well defined and toned body that she showed with her short sleeved tunic and pants was an indication of how serious she was, meanwhile, the third member of their group had an almost lazy smile on her lips, that mixed with her long wavy pink hair and half opened eyes gave the impressions of someone that was almost continuously about to fall asleep.

"Well, when the Elder simply tells you that you need to check on a person turned statue, even you can be wondering what is going through that old hag's brain, hey, Jing, what are you doing?!" the aforementioned Jing had gotten closer to the statue as they were bantering as always.

"There is something wrong with the statue Qiang."

"Well, if Elder Liling is right this used to be a person, so I wouldn't poke it or anything like that, it deserves some respect."

"Ah, excuse me honorable members of Nujie zu," at the sound of that voice the three members turned around, finding the Jusenkyo guide not too far from them.

"Wait, why are you here? Shouldn't you be guarding the springs like always?"

"No offense to all of you, but I promised to look after this young man, after everything that he did he at least deserves some honorable rest," at these words the three amazons looked at each other, surprised that apparently, once more, one of the elders was right with her visions.

"Well, shit, guess I lost my bet with Zhan," at those words, the green haired amazon at Qiang's right began to jump up and down around the now very annoyed amazon who could only watch with a tremendous scowl the victory dance of her friend.

"Alright! No laundry duty for a whole week, woo hoo!"

"Yes, yes, congratulations, still, that doesn't explain what is going on, how can a person turn into stone? Was it a dangerous spell? Magic? Why would an Elder receive a vision of something like this?" Seeing that the trio had been sent by one of the elders of the tribe, the guide knew that whatever had happened to Hibiki Ryoga must be important to someone on the other side, or maybe it was a message; one of the virtues of guarding this place was the fact that everything stopped being impossible.

So he told them the whole story, of how they arrived looking for a way to save the young woman, of their fights, their bravery and finally, of the ultimate sacrifice that had resulted on the statue. It had taken him almost an hour, but the trio of warriors let him talk, eager to learn the true story, and at the end, they were completely amazed.

"I can't… what? He did that?" Zhan had lost her teasing smile and for a girl that was known for never stopping moving, for her constant desire to jump and run everywhere, she had stood in silence the whole time, in awe and surprise.

"Shengmìng zhi chu, he used The Touch of Life, he gave himself completely to save the woman," Qiang couldn't believe it, they at least knew of that forbidden technique, of how powerful lords forced magical practitioners to learn it, just to use them as an easy way to save themselves, not caring that the one who used the technique always died; but to hear that one man did it, knowing well what could be the consequences, it was mind blowing.

"That's right, once it was clear that it had been too late, the young man didn't hesitate for a second to perform the exchange; the results are just like you see, all his friends survived and the woman was brought back to life… sadly, the young Hibiki passed away, his body turning into the statue that you see in front of you," the three amazons didn't know what to say in response to that, to willingly use that forbidden technique, well, it was definitely tragic.

"Incredible, just the fact that this man, Hibiki Ryoga, had the bravery and courage to challenge the Phoenix Tribe speaks highly of him," Qiang's words were full of praise, honored to hear about such a great tale.

"He showed resourcefulness and strength in surviving their onslaught," Zhan was not talking just as a young, carefree teenager, but as a warrior of Joketsuzoku, proud and brave, she was giving her respect to someone that deserved it.

"And the care and love of one ready to do the ultimate sacrifice for those that needed him," Jing's eyes, usually lost somewhere in the distance, with her mind somewhere amongst the clouds usually, were focused entirely on the brave man that had given it all for another, they were solemn and sharp; the man may have been an outsider, but that did not mean he was devoid of honour, it was in fact the opposite.

"If the boy were alive, half the freaking village would be trying to give him the Kiss of Marriage after hearing that story," the leader of the three joked, knowing full well that there was a high chance something like that would have happened.

"And the other half would have been ready to drag him into their beds just so they could gain a powerful child," at those words from Zhan, the other three people in the valley either went completely red or began to admonish the young Amazon for such outrageous comments "what? You know they would totally do that, I mean, I don't know about you, but even as a statue he is not bad looking!"

"Girls."

"Yeah, well, maybe, but you don't have to be so vulgar!"

"Girls."

"Vulgar? I wasn't being vulgar; vulgar would have been saying that Chu Hua would have definitely pushed him to the ground and started mating with him right at the center of the village."

"Girls." The other two amazons finally turned around to watch their friend pointing lazily at the statue "the statue is cracking," what was Jing talking about? There was no way the statue would be… cracking? There was a crack… and then another crack! What was going on?! And just as they finally noticed all that, the statue began to shine, before the rock fell apart and a body came out from the inside, freed now of its imprisonment.

The trio, plus the Jusenkyo guide, stood gawking at what had just transpired, none of them understanding what had just happened, but as one, the warriors ran in the direction of the unconscious person and they could not believe their eyes.

"Ah, guide, didn't you say that the person that performed Shengmìng zhi chu was male?" Qiang asked the older man, who just could nod at what had just happened; getting closer to them he now understood that question, but also immediately turned around, after all, right there in the ground, was the naked double of one Tendo Akane.