Disclaimer: I do not own Hero: 108.
Chapter 2:
They set out nice and early the next day. Master Chou, Burly, Mano, Rosefinch, Lin Chung, and Kowloon each manoeuvred their own planes, while the others hopped on behind them.
Lady Green found herself sitting behind Lin Chung as Jumpy hopped on behind Mano. Mystique Sonia took up Rosefinch's plane with Alpha Girl Latifah.
Lin Chung seemed to vibrate with a certain energy.
"Excited?" Lady Green asked with a teasing smile.
Lin Chung smiled back. "It's been a long time since I last went home. This village is close enough."
And, with that, they set off.
They arrived in the village in the afternoon, with the Air Force members, Kowloon and Lin Chung pausing for five minutes during the trip for a break.
As soon as they landed, excited children gathered around them, gawking at the gleaming red rockets. Parents quickly shooed their children away while the heroes got off the planes.
Lady Green looked around.
It was a relatively cosy village - big enough to nearly be considered a town, but small enough to feel secure with the planting fields surrounding them.
An old lady peeped out of the hut in the middle of the village. She shot them a look and disappeared back inside.
Lady Green didn't have time to ponder this as someone, presumably the leader, walked forward. He bowed his head in acknowledgement. "We have been waiting for you."
"We are sorry to have kept you waiting." Lin Chung answered.
Lady Green followed the man as he led the group into the hut, where the old lady was sitting on a mat. She looked up at them with eyes wrinkled beyond compare, yet they shone with wisdom.
"Sit." The old woman instructed.
They did so. The leader kneeled in front of her, taking her offered hand and placing it on his forehead before he turned and bowed as he left.
"So are you the so-called elder who will bring us to Liangshan Marsh?" Archer demanded.
They all shot him a sharp look as Lin Chung hastily covered for him. "Our apologies, madam. We have heard that this village has found evidence of what had happened during two Outlaws' stay here?"
The old lady nodded, looking more satisfied now. "My name is Meiren."
Lin Chung nodded.
She sighed. "The story of the Outlaws has spread down generations. Stories of their bravery and of how they saved this village and its future. It is a small deed, but around here, it is a large matter."
Meiren stood and lit up incense. "Two came, at the break of dawn, from Liangshan Marsh. One for her family name, the other for his knowledge in the dialect that we used to use." She waved the incense, and then put it down in a small pot filled with ash in front of a picture of…the founder, Lady Green supposed.
"The first was named Hu Sunniang. She was from a good family and a fierce fighter. The other was Lin Chong, whose name was more well-known around here, near what is now the East Citadel."
"Lin Chung?" Kowloon interrupted.
"No." Meiren said sharply. "Lin Chong. To some, he was invincible on his horse with his spear in his hand. There is time to explain later."
She turned to Lady Green and Lin Chung, who were kneeling next to each other. She studied them for a long time, as if suddenly realising something and taking the opportunity to examine it. "You two seem familiar."
Both looked puzzled at this. "But we have never met." Lady Green pointed out.
Meiren was insistent. "I think I have."
Lin Chung frowned. "I come from the neighbouring village."
Meiren nodded slowly. "I suppose I could have mistaken someone from there when I passed through."
She stood up and beckoned for them to follow.
They did. She led them into a small room, where there was a small altar in the corner and two portraits hanging on the other wall. She lit the candle near the portraits.
It was of a man and a woman. The man stood tall, his spear in his hand, something resembling an eight-shaped container and some red strings hanging from it. He wore a farmer's straw hat, which didn't hide a brand of some sort which was near the top right of his forehead. He wore leather wrist-bands wrapped around his long-sleeved shirt, sewn of rough but durable cloth.
The female was small but fierce. A stern look adorned her pretty face. Her hair was tied in braids and pushed back by a red and gold headdress with a name prescribed on the middle. She wore red underneath her armour, carrying twin blades.
"This is Lin Chong and Hu Sanniang." Meiren turned to Lady Green. "Do you mind if I ask where your family descends from?"
Lady Green shook her head as she answered. "My family is descended from the Chus, who were originally known as the Zhus."
Meiren's face lit up. "Perfect. A Zhu." She pointed to the lady. "Hu Sanniang was also originally a Zhu before she was married off. She was a great warrior, one of the few that could not be defeated in battle."
She turned to Lin Chung, who shook his head slightly forlornly. "I do not know."
"You have not asked?"
"I cannot ask. My parents have been deceased for a long time."
Meiren nodded slowly, her eyes soft as she turned back to the portraits. "Lin Chong was a feared member that used to serve the Emperor Huizong. He was the martial arts instructor for the 800,000 strong Imperial Army, and was respected throughout the land before being exiled."
She turned back. "Both set off when the Raiders from various sand tribes took the children and some parents. The children and parents returned, safe and sound, but neither warrior returned. At dawn, only Hu Sanniang returned. Lin Chong was never found after that."
Hu Sanniang slammed the door of her bedroom shut, locking it and collapsing onto her bed, sobs tearing themselves out of her throat. Why would he not say it? Did he hate her?
She had offered herself willingly, but now…
Hu Sanniang continued to sob into her threadbare pillow. Would he tell Wang Ying? Wang Ying would be mad, for sure, and would do something worse than he already did.
She trembled with fear.
But, then again, Lin Chong had a right to reject her. He had sworn to his wife that he would love her for the rest of eternity - alive or dead.
Fear encompassed her mind, filling her head with chilling thoughts. The only warmth that she previously had was extinguished, cast away to the depths of her mind. She shivered suddenly, wondering what would be awaiting her when she returned to Liangshan.
She fell into an unconscious slumber, nightmares plaguing her sleep.
However, sometime in the middle of the night, a calm voice read something out to her that she couldn't hear clearly in her fog-addled sleep. She fell asleep again to the soothing feel on someone threading their fingers through her hair.
When she woke, there was no one there.