Babysitter Zhao Yun

Author's Note: I would like to thank you all for your reviews. This chapter will be longer to compensate the fact that the last one was very short compared to the others by at least 800 words. I aim for at least 6,400 words per chapter. Worry not though, the fluff will return after this chapter, more or less…

Also, I would like to just mention this… don't worry my dears, I know what I'm doing! Yes, in retrospect the other Shu generals and the older children, like the teenagers and what-not would go berserk if the little kiddies were taken. This kidnapper guy is a pro, okay! This chapter will explain a few things. Let me know if I should change the rating at this point…

Sorry for the hiatus. I was rather busy. I have the next four chapters after this one planned, but if anyone likes to send suggestions I would gladly take them. Also, the story is basically set up in arcs stacked up onto one another. The next arc after this kidnapping one with be Chapter Nine.

I hope this chapter is as good as or better than the others. This is the end of the "Kidnapper Arc". And I apologize if it seems broken up. It was difficult to write this chapter.

Zhao Tong and Shufeng were given to Yueying to watch. She repeatedly told Zhao Yun that she would protect them with her very life. If it wasn't for the speed and stamina for the man who kidnapped Xingcai, Bao Sanniang, and Guan Yinping, she would have done the same for them. But the marketplace was too crowded for her to follow him and even then she lost sight of him almost immediately. She looked everywhere!

Shufeng had a tight grip on her older brother the entire time that her dad had to leave them.

Zhao Yun explained to Zhao Guang that he was going to have to be brave for what was going to happen. Zhao Guang was intent in listening to the situation that would transpire. He was to act normally and play at the park while his father was hidden away, unnoticed by all. He was to draw the attention of a kidnapper who would then take him and lead his father to wherever the others had went.

The other veterans were to stay far away as to not draw attention, but close enough when they are called. Zhao Yun had to convince the others of his reasoning behind going alone: one of which is if they moved as a group it would look suspicious to any potential kidnapper. Not to mention that he was silent as he moved; a group of armed men would make too much noise for his liking. Plus he was fast. No one would keep up with him on their side, and when they all arrived to the same spot they may cause an alarm being in a large group.

Plus it would be wasting time if they rounded up all of their able-bodied warriors and send out a search party. What he was doing was a major risk, and Zhao Yun wasn't too glad in doing it, but it had to be done.

His youngest son was going to be bait. He would be right behind the kidnapper who does kidnap him and follow him to wherever he was going. Call it a kidnapper trap, if you will.

The air reeked with an undesirable smell. It was suffocating. And the crowded space wasn't making the conditions any brighter. It was a terrifying sight. Children ranging from four years to ten were all chained to each other and constantly working in a sort of manual labor. Many had axes and were chopping away at wood. Others had picks and were digging out unwanted insects in the wood.

All of the children's hands were swollen, bleeding, and the chains around their ankles dug into the soft flesh mercilessly. Tear stained faces and blurry eyes were seen all across the faces of the children. The metallic smell of blood mixed with the dust from the wood irritated the eyes and clouded the senses of the young kids.

And that was where the young children were taken to and kept in. An abandoned warehouse that was nearly run down into the ground and was in such conditions to be considered a dangerous place for anybody to be around. The unsavory conditions led some of the children to grow ill, but their captors took no notice of it and pushed them to work harder.

Well, at least they did. Now it was just him. The last of the three of them. His two other companions didn't have the right amount of skills or experience that they said they did. And both times their punishment was death. And both were killed by the same person. The only other person helping him was a pro just as much as he was. But this last companion was off by a large amount.

The man flipped a gold coin into the air and caught it. In front of him was the newly caught nine that he rounded up earlier that day. The bruise and the wounds he received on his face and his entire body were healing at an excellent pace. Behind him stood his only other living companion.

"I can't believe Shou and Kong were killed as easily as they were! Not to mention they alerted the entire Shu Kingdom!" He turned toward the man sitting down. "Hey Eclipse, are you certain that you weren't followed? You caught quite a haul."

The cloaked man pulled the hood back and exposed his face. His grey eyes glared at the other. "Of course I made sure I wasn't followed! Who in this mountainous region could keep up with me? I'm a trained assassin in the art of speed and elusiveness. You say your words as if you have doubt in me, Chun?"

The other man, Chun, just sighed heavily. "I don't know about you, but you know I have a bad reputation with children. I'm labeled as a pedophile for a reason." He eyed the children before him and Eclipse. He subconsciously licked his lips. The children Eclipse had captured were all pretty agreeable on the eyes. All young and tasty looking.

"The ones you see before you we will put to work. But worry not dear companion, for there is a child out there that may soothe your desires." Eclipse smiled deviously. "Ever heard of an angel by the name of Zhao Shufeng?"

Chun whistled at the name mentioned. "You know I have. I've been eyeing that beauty for a while now. Who would've thought that the famed Little Dragon had such a lovely child? She sure is eye candy now as a kid."

"She may be so, but as age comes so would her beauty. For sure I know his move. He was watching these kids three times this week. The first and third time was when Shou and Kong decided to try their luck. But to no avail. Shou should have just let the defeat go and come back to base. But no, his death was his own folly. Kong on the other hand had induced the wrath of the same man we have as a target. He being on a vacation today was a grand opening, but there would be no doubt in Liu Bei calling him up now to combat this." Eclipse crossed his arms in front of him. "He'll be coming at any time by now, now that we have the kids that triggered his attention." He let loose a dark chuckle.

"Will you be able to handle him? The boss did order us to damage him one way or the other."

"I know the order. But let's put the nail in the coffin." Eclipse smiled deviously at Chun. "I know he has three kids. Two older boys and the angel herself. Would you do one last job and take them as well?"

"To get a glimpse at the little kiddies of the Little Dragon, I'll do so in a heartbeat. I'll be back." He waved behind him to leave.

"Best of luck to you."

Time was ticking to the rhythm of Zhao Yun's heartbeat that was in his ears. Every second that his son was playing at the park that very second is wasted in trying to find the others. There was a massive chance this wouldn't work. The man captured nine kids at once and it was getting pretty dark. He might have turned in for the night for all Zhao Yun knew.

But his instinct was telling him otherwise. And he was listening to it.

The moon was beginning to rise as the sun set for the day. The dusk sent the entire playground into darkness.

Eclipse was still flipping the gold coin into the air as he eyed the nine he captured. With Chun gone he didn't have to fear about the man ravishing the children like a meal. He shivered. Even as a kidnapper and assassin even he had to admit working with the pedophile was an insane concept to complete this task.

Zhao Yun was known to be very parental among children. He worked well with them. The Royal family of Shu trusted him with their children. And the amount of families who looked to Zhao Yun as a patron were immense in numbers. The "boss" he was working for wanted to bring the said man down. To damage Zhao Yun's reputation beyond repair. To tear the man down so far that he'll never be able to come back again.

Eclipse sighed deeply. This was one of his most troublesome job listings he has ever received. His grey eyes looked up to the ceiling of the old warehouse. If it came crashing down they would all be killed under the weight. His eyes shifted to the group of nine. They were all pretty quiet, refusing to speak even after being chained. The young Liu Shan cried for a while after he woke up, but he cried himself to sleep again after words.

A fight would be unavoidable to Eclipse. He was the one who managed to capture all nine of them. If Zhao Yun was going to come after anyone, he was sure to come after him. He looked down upon his hidden blades, coated in a powerful poison. It wouldn't kill him, but it would make him ill enough to have his health fail drastically enough for him to not be able to do anything for a long time.

"What's your name?" A voice spoke up.

Eclipse ran his grey eyes over the group. It was a soft voice, but he heard it.

He sat up from his lying position on the makeshift throne he constructed before working on kidnapping kids. He looked at the group of nine in a searching gaze, looking for the speaker.

"I'll ask again sir," said the same voice. It came from Jiang Wei. "What's your name?"

Eclipse just smirked at the bold kid. "A name is so unimportant. It's not really needed, now is it?"

"I did ask what it was." Jiang Wei yawned. It must be getting dark about now. "But if you want to be like that, fine by me."

Eclipse nearly growled at the indifference the kid showed. "The name's Eclipse Mirror. There, now you know. I'm an assassin that's going to bring down your beloved mentor."

There was a strong silence for about three seconds until all of them burst out laughing. "Yeah right! Good luck with that Yi Murr, haha~!"

Eclipse felt his eye twitch. "Y-Yi Murr? The name's Eclipse Mirror. It's not that hard to pronounce!"

"W-we're hearing Yi Murr!" Zhang Bao was trying to hold back his laugh, as opposed to the situation but was failing rapidly. "And you want to try to take on our sensei? Yi Murr has a death wish!"

"Tch," Eclipse clicked his tongue. He looked up when his name was called by Chun.

"Hey Eclipse I'm back. And look who I got~!" Chun literally sang the second part.

Eclipse looked up and smirked at who the pedophile was carrying. "Well, if it isn't the lovely angel herself." He got up and walked slowly to his companion. Chun was drinking in the image of the timid child in his hands. Eclipse made Zhao Shufeng look up at him. "What a lovely little girl. When I bring down her father she would make for a lovely concubine, don't you think Chun? She'll sell for a large sum, especially to the boss."

Shufeng was petrified of the men before her. One had taken her away from the nice lady and her older brother, and the other was touching her! She whimpered, frozen in fear. Eclipse just smirked at her. "Such a lovely blossom. Such a timid daughter to have come from the Personification of Courage himself." He chuckled lowly. "We can't put her to work. She'll break too easily."

"That didn't stop you from using other children." Chun had a fierce grip on her. "But seeing as she's shaking like a leaf I could see why you don't want her to use any tools."

"Eh, that's not all my companion. She's our target's daughter. She's worth a lot to the boss, especially if he marries her. That way Zhao Yun's entire estate would go to the boss one way or another."

"Yes, but she really is lovely, isn't she!? The concubine idea doesn't sound too bad. Would you like her Eclipse?" Chun made a show by handing her out to him.

Eclipse put his hand to his chin and thought about the concept. She was quite the prize to take. Not to mention a valuable one. The Shu Kingdom would be greatly affected by her disappearance. And her father… The Little Dragon was a bigger threat personally at this point. Honestly Eclipse had no thoughts of obtaining any sort of child as a sort of "prize" as Chun once put it. But then again the little angel was a tempting choice.

"No doubt for sure you managed to get his attention. He'll go down fighting for these ten kids of his, and when he does the boss would be open to take whatever he wants from the Little Dragon." Eclipse hummed thoughtfully, then stopped abruptly. His eyes went wide as he looked at Chun.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Chun took one hand off Zhao Shufeng to brush his face. "Is it gone?"

"It's not you idiot! The others! What about his two sons?" If they weren't there then…

"I didn't see them. In fact I only saw this one because she ran away into a corner to curl up in. I have no clue where her brothers are and I looked up and down." Chun was playing with Shufeng's hair, making her whimper.

Eclipse's mind was racing a million miles a second. He knows that Zhao Yun would never leave his daughter alone, especially without her brothers as a cold, hard fact. Which means Chun either was extremely lucky, or that he was set up in a trap to be followed later. He put a hand to his head and breathed deeply. He had to focus.

He backed away from Chun and walked to the center of the warehouse, Chun's eyes following him and remaining quiet, his eyebrow raised in concern. Eclipse ignored every sound in the old, decaying building. He breathed deeply and forced himself to relax.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" Chun asked.

Eclipse twitched at the noise his companion made as his only sign of acknowledgement, and went back to breathing. To Chun he looked more relaxed than he has ever saw him. Then there was a bright purple glow that surrounded Eclipse.

"What am I doing?" Eclipse finally answered, his eyes opening to look at Chun. This caused Chun to take several steps back with wide eyes. His companion's grey eyes had turned into swirls of purple. "I'm using my Musou Energy to make sure you weren't followed." A burst of purple light erupted from Eclipse, and it took only a split second for a similar light to come back to him. Both times had Chun shading his eyes, and both times made children cry out to the sudden bright light.

Eclipse sighed a breath of relief. There was no trace of Chun being followed, and his Musou Energy didn't pick up another's for miles. But, just to be on the safe side…

Eclipse turned toward Chun. "I'll explain to you what I did. As you know there are people who have extreme surges of power within them, known as Musou Energy. What I just did acts like a radar, sensitive only to other Musous. You could be blind and still feel it. Everything in this land has some amount of Musou Energy, some stronger than others. The Five Tiger Generals of Shu for instance have a suffocating amount of Musou Energy, along with the vast Musou Control needed to handle it. You can find anyone hidden with this Musou radar trick to avoid being ambushed usually, but assassins with Musou Energy have been known to control it to the very limit where you won't be able to notice them, no matter how much Musou Energy they're packing."

"I know that." Chun rolled his eyes. "It's what makes someone stronger than another person. Some people infuse their weapons in it, and others infuse their limbs. In your case, your hidden blades."

Eclipse chuckled. "You're only touching the surface. Heck not even that." Eclipse walked over to Chun. "Musou Energy is the combination of Spirit and Battle. Otherwise known at that point as a Battle Aura. You know those warriors out there that seem to glow or be surrounded by a crushing aura?" Chun nodded his head as confirmation. "That's a warrior's manifestation of their Battle Aura. In reality the Battle Aura of a warrior is much more advanced than what people without it see. Those without Musou Energy get crushed by those with it. A warrior to a soldier is no comparison. It's an adult to an unborn child. Take me for example. The strongest of warriors don't have to prove they're strong by unleashing their Musou Energy in what the Three Kingdoms call Musou. It's a devastating attack that can utterly destroy a piece of this land. And a Musou is created from different factors that are individualized by those with it. The cunning Shu strategist Fa Zheng's Musou revolves around the primary advanced element of lightning and the secondary element of poison. My own revolves around poison, for I rely on it to finish my enemies. The both of us are considered snake-like, and thus our nature shows the manifestation of our Battle Aura as snakes to those who can see it." He stopped in front of Chun.

"So, those who can see Musou Energy can find another who can?" Chun asked, an eyebrow raised.

Eclipse nodded his head. "That's the short version, but yeah, that'll be exactly it." He closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "The thing is it's a fact that Zhao Yun has an immense control over his Musou Energy, the best in the land. Musou Control is essential, because it could be life or death if not. If you have a huge amount of Musou Energy you got to learn how to control it, otherwise if your weapon breaks your Musou blows up in your face."

"Someone can get killed by their own Musou?" Chun's eyes went wide.

Eclipse shook his head. "I have yet to hear about an idiot like that. Musou Energy is just as strong as the life force of the person using it. Just enough to harm another, but not enough to harm the user. But, nonetheless it'll hurt to have it blow up in your face."

"Gotcha. Wait, you mentioned days ago that you hope that Zhao Yun never uses his weapon or his armor for the same reason, right?"

"Yeah that's right. The common thing about the strongest warriors in the kingdom is that they don't put their armor on or use their weapon unless they need to. Otherwise where's the fun in that if they didn't? That shows that they limit themselves as a choice in an act to get stronger. The armor and weapon of a warrior would have a ton of Musou Energy infused with it, and will only make the warrior stronger if they did have it. That's where Lu Bu went wrong, flashing his might everywhere like his ego couldn't be killed. The strongest warriors don't flash their strength like that, nor do they rub it in each other's faces. They get why though, and they'll believe that there is always someone stronger out there than them. That's why the vast majority of them don't flaunt. That's a way to get enemies, and to make yourself a target. Anyone with Musou Energy only use as much as they need. If they're pushed to the brink you better believe they'll go all out. The backlash for Musou Energy though is that if you use a Musou it drains you of that energy, and unless you have good control over it using too much could send you into a coma at worse."

Chun was rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I don't get it…"

Eclipse shook his head. "Don't worry too much about it. But keep a close eye on-," he didn't finish his sentence as loud running could be heard, along with a voice.

"Hey guys~, guess who I have!?"

"What the-, wait is that Sheng!?" Chun asked, looking at Eclipse.

Eclipse grinded his teeth together. "For the love of the gods I hope not." But he knew it was Sheng.

"You guys wouldn't believe who I got~."

Zhao Yun ran through the trees at a breakneck speed, dodging the branches as if they were blades in a deadly dance of pinning him down. He swiftly avoided what could've been an accident waiting to happen as he raced through the trees, keeping his presence hidden in the foliage from the kidnapper below on the streets.

The said kidnapper held on to the young boy, who hardly struggled and allowed himself to be carried away. It didn't cross his mind that this was a trap. All he knew was that it was late, and a child was playing at the park alone. Maybe he snuck out of his house to play.

Sheng hardly got to do anything since Eclipse brushed him aside for every mission thus far. Yeah, he was a novice assassin, but he was better suited for something like this than the pedophile who gets the missions. In fact he was asked to go back to base, but he couldn't leave without doing something for the group.

His companions weren't too glad though.

"Sheng what the hell are you doing here? I told you to go back to base." Eclipse's eyebrow twitched.

"Technically this is base. But look at who I've got Eclipse~." He held up the young boy. The sight of the boy had Eclipse's eyes widen in a panic.

"Was there any others? Any siblings around him when you found him?"

"Um, no he was playing at the park alone."

"You idiot! Do you not know who you have! That's Zhao Yun's son Zhao Guang! Zhao Yun would never separate his children at a time like this! This time I'm sure that kid was bait!" Eclipse ran outside of the warehouse. He called back to Chen and Sheng, "Release the kids! All of them! This is going to be a war zone and the only person we're supposed to kill is Zhao Yun. I repeat. Do. Not. Harm. The. Children. That wasn't the plan."

"But Eclipse, wait! What's with the manual labor you put them through?" Sheng asked confused.

"It gave them something to do!" Was the only reply he got.

Sheng dropped Zhao Guang to hit the ground and walked over to the ones shackled. Chun set Zhao Shufeng down on the ground, and when he released her she ran straight to her brother.

"This seemed like a horrible waste of time." Sheng complained under his breath.

Chun hit him upside the head. "The plan was to get Zhao Yun's attention. Not the entire kingdom's! One of his kids was enough."

"You got all nine of them!"

"And his daughter. Don't you understand? We're not strong enough to take on an entire kingdom, much less their strongest generals. Unchain the kids, and let's get outta here! Eclipse is going to bring this place down!"

"So we're literally going to start all over!" Sheng said in a whining tone.

Chun rolled his eyes but broke the chain from the wall, effectively making it turn to dust and releasing all the kids attached to it. "I'm glad these chains of mine take very little Musou Energy to make and break."

"That's a nifty trick there man." Said a voice across from the building.

Chun and Sheng both looked over with wide eyes to see a man twirling a large paintbrush in his fingers. The nine recently caught kids were standing up behind the man. "Although the scene here is gruesome I wouldn't mind repaying the both of you the same way for this crime." Ma Dai spoke, a smile on his face and his eyes burning with a vicious fire.

Eclipse looked around for Zhao Yun. There were legions of warriors closing in on the warehouse. If Zhao Yun was chasing Sheng then there was no doubt in Eclipse's mind that Zhao Yun had enough Musou Energy packing to send a signal to an assembled army of generals to lock down on where they were at.

Eclipse sent out another Musou wave to act as his radar and to keep him updated on the movements of the generals. He had to avoid a fight with all of them, and keep his eyes out for Zhao Yun. He dodged the branches effortlessly, spinning around the outstretched limbs of the trees. He debated whether or not to run. He couldn't handle Zhao Yun, much less by himself. But come what may he won't go down without a fight.

"Looking for me Dang Jing?" A deep voice cut through the trees that made Eclipse widen his eyes in shock and slow his movements. He turned slowly to the speaker and froze as the form of the Little Dragon calmly rose from the shadows of the surrounding forest. "Because I think you kept me waiting long enough." As Zhao Yun neared Eclipse he could see the swirls of bright cyan radiating from the warrior's eyes.

"You know my name?" Was the only thing Eclipse asked as he calmed his breath.

"I overheard your comrades call you Eclipse Mirror. And the hidden blades you carry, coated in poison, are assassin weapons. I know too much of being assassin myself to know one when I see them. Last I heard the last person I know to have the name Eclipse Mirror was known to mimic a warrior's style. In this case you have the same ability, but with a more flawless execution of said ability, which is what Eclipse Mirror means. You were able to mimic my speed, which I'll admit is impressive." Zhao Yun's voice became cold. "But that was just a name for a fool of an assassin. He was careless." He dropped his gaze to Eclipse. "And it looks like they found his replacement."

Eclipse chuckled lightly despite the situation. "A compliment from the Little Dragon himself. I'm honored. Yes, the assassin name Eclipse Mirror was passed down to me, but I don't know who had it before. Now, you mentioned something about being an assassin yourself." Eclipse put his hand to his chin in thought. "Then, you must have a high title as one. Or at least you used to when under Gongsun Zan didn't you? Last I heard it was Cikelong, or Dragon Assassin. "Assassin of Dragons" is a pretty intimidating title, isn't it?"

"It was, but I'd rather not look back on it." Zhao Yun said, clenching his right hand and unclenching it. "Now, what's the reason for the kidnappings?" Eclipse shivered at the blade in his voice.

"To get your attention Tiger General. You're our target. The kids were to get your attention and it worked. But the idiot that was my apprentice decided to take your bait and led you and an army to our base of operations. Fair warning though, some of those kids are sick and have been put to work on getting insects out of wood. It gave them something to do until all of you got here."

Zhao Yun glared at him, his eyes darkening. "And I'm a target how?"

Eclipse shrugged. "My employer really wanted to bring you down a few notches. Something about damaging your good reputation so they can have your estate a maybe your daughter. Something along the lines of that."

Zhao Yun's hand clenched and unclenched again. His temper was building.

Eclipse kept talking. "But if there is an off chance to take you down, I'll have to be quick to find it now don't I?" He flicked both his wrists outward. A cold shing was heard as the moonlight caught the edge of both blades. The metal glittered heavily under the light, showing Zhao Yun just how much poison covered the wicked blades. "I have no chance in the nine layers of hell in killing you, but I can slow you down." He smiled. "Do you like your chance Little Dragon?"

Zhao Yun stepped forward with his hand out in front of him, glowing a bright cyan that danced around him in a beautiful whirlwind. His hand clenched one more time, and unclenched with the cyan colors morphing the fingers into sharp appendages, similar to that of the claws of a dragon. Eclipse's eyes widened. "He could infuse his weapon and armor with Musou Energy. That fact was obvious to all warriors with Musou! But I never heard of anyone being able to do that and their limbs!" Was his only thought.

"I'm ready to go when you are." Was the smooth and cold reply.

Yueying wrapped bandages around the children's ankles as there was evidence of a chain digging into them. Some of them required medicine as well.

Ma Dai searched the warehouse grounds for the other kidnapper. The one they followed when he kidnapped Zhao Shufeng. But it was pointless, and he knew it. The other guy, Sheng, was the only one who fought him, while the other made his escape. Ma Dai sighed heavily and turned to the kids that filled the old structure. Zhao Yun had put him and Yueying in charge of getting them out of there and wrapped up as he chased down the leader. He reacted weirdly to the name Eclipse Mirror as the kids related his name to their mentor. Ma Dai just shook his head at the ridiculous name.

He turned his head in time to see Zhao Yun enter the building, and was promptly attacked by children as he approached. Zhao Yun laughed as they asked him questions about why he left again and where he went for what-was-supposed-to-be-his vacation.

Eclipse breathed deeply, cringing as the wound on his face reacted violently to the sting of the motion. Blood dripped down his nose and the left side of his face. He struggled to stand as he collapsed to his knees, the pain in his legs burning with the slashes. His arms came to stop him from falling to the ground face first to avoid more injury to it, and was met with a burn of several other, hidden wounds that chain reacted many others down his body. His cloak was shredded, as well as his clothes, and in the shredded remains were deep cuts of varying sizes.

He couldn't move. It was too much. He was lucky enough to escape when he did, but Zhao Yun's final attack did some moderate damage to him.

"Eclipse!" He turned his head to a painful angle as he tried sitting up instead, but was struggling until Chun helped him into place. "Sheesh man, what happened to you?"

Eclipse took a deep breath, and winced at the pain. "I managed to land a hit on Zhao Yun and used whatever Musou I had left to get away. The poison from my blades should be effecting him now. He has an amazing healing factor you know. He heals faster than you can damage him! Do you know how insane that it? I just hope the poison puts him out of action for a couple of days. When I was using my Musou his hand had turned into a claw and he managed to slice through the barrier that appears to protect me from attacks while I teleport somewhere. He slashed my face while he did so." He looked up to Chun as he brought out bandages. "What about you? Where's Sheng?"

Chun shook his head. "Ma Dai cornered us in the warehouse. He told both Sheng and I to grab a weapon. I took the time to remove the rest of the chains from the kids and head out while Sheng on the other hand was being his trigger happy self and attacked him." Chun filled Eclipse in, bandaging the left side of Eclipse's face, covering the eye and the wounds across it. "He messed you up good. You must have several wounds on you."

"That fool! He reacted just like Shou and was without a doubt killed." Eclipse shook his head to the news. "Zhao Yun is a wind elementalist. He could become the wind, has godspeed, and can manipulate the wind to act as multiple blades. Small, invisible blades! He can control the wind to the point of making the delicate petals of a flower the most dangerous blade in the land! I couldn't defend against them. He could have sliced me into shreds if he wanted to." Eclipse looked down on his hands, noticing how they shook.

"Hey, you can go through life as the man who lived a hit from Zhao Yun, on the plus side if you're thinking of retiring." Chun said, grabbing more bandages.

"Not likely Chun. But I do know one thing, I'm not messing with him anymore. I'm fully terrified of the Little Dragon. Whatever Lin Yang asks for or pays for our services decline every offer he throws our way!" Eclipse cringes as Chun bandaged his arms. "Now let's head home Chun. We're done here. That battle is going to give me nightmares and he knows it."

Zhao Yun coughed violently into his hand after putting his kids to bed. He walked into the living room and removed his hand from his mouth, looking with wide eyes at the red liquid that covered his hand in the candlelight. He clenched his hand and unclenched it in a straining motion. Despite not showing any signs of overworking it appears his own stress and anxiety hid the toll of it from his body until now. And now it was reacting to the poison that coated Dang Jing's blades.

Another coughing fit made its presence known, and it had Zhao Yun hacking into his hand once again. The blood spilled from his hands with crimson lines decorating the paling skin from the warrior. A deep crimson line in particular found its way around his hand through his graceful fingers and dripped slowly to the ground from the center, the red drop reflected the light and made it appear as if it were an ember flickering from the flame.

Li Qing kneeled before Liu Bei and the other Shu generals and advisors, his face grave and tired.

"Li Qing this is a surprise. What came up for you to request an audience with all of us?" Liu Bei asked. He knew of Zhao Yun's distrust of doctors and his trust in Li Qing especially since he was considered the Zhao family's specific doctor. Seeing him outside of Zhao Yun's estate was rather troubling.

"I regret to inform you Lord Liu Bei, and the rest of the lords and ladies of Shu that Five Tiger General Lord Zhao Yun has fallen ill," he said looking down to the ground. "He nearly collapsed last night after coughing up blood due to overworking, exhaustion, stress, and anxiety. What made this evident is whoever he has been fighting last night had poison coating his blades, and the poison in question has taken its toll along with everything else that was mentioned."

Author's Note: I'm so sorry of this seems broken up. It was pretty difficult to write this chapter. I can't necessarily see Zhao Yun ever getting injured, nor would I see him letting his target get away from him. The only way I could see Zhao Yun collapsing is due to overworking and exhaustion. You'll soon learn that there are many other factors for this last scene.

Li Qing will appear often in the case of him being a created character that Zhao Yun trusts extremely to be his doctor and the all time doctor for the Zhao clan. He values Zhao Yun's trust and will often bring him herbs and teas to help him recover. Style name will be Xensheng or trusted doctor.

Like I said before, I have some chapters already planned out, but I will take suggestions. I will try to update as frequently as I can this holiday break, but if I don't; Happy Holidays to you all the readers of the Dynasty Warriors Archive!