Chen Mei-ling

After leaving Liu's side, I quickly vanished into the woods using a trick taught to me by my Father to suppress my cultivation. I don't know if they have anyone that can sense others' cultivations in their group but better safe than sorry. Plus, the technique also hides my life force, too, you know, if they have someone who can sense that too. But I needn't have worried while I could tell right away that these were no ordinary bandits, they still lacked the training required to take down even the lowest of the outer sect disciples. The first enemy I found was a woman who stared fixedly into the clearing, almost robotically firing arrows at Liu, who I saw bent over, placing a massive pack over Meera. What is wrong with these people Their is absolutely no way they don't know that a child is crying. Liu had better have a good reason not to let me kill these animals. Slipping silently behind the woman, I wrapped one arm around her waist and arms, the other around her throat. I jerked her back, making sure she couldn't yell out. I let the woman fall back on top of me while I wrapped my legs around her own so she couldn't thrash about. Two minutes later, I felt her go limp, but I continued another minute to be safe. One down, and apparently, they are fairly far apart since no one came to investigate. When I started to move toward the next, I looked back at the unconscious form of the woman. No best not to leave her unbound. She might wake up before I finish. I took a massive roll of some thin yet strong robe from my ring and cut off enough to tie the woman to a nearby tree. To be safe, I stuffed some cloth in her mouth. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for packing so much stuff into this ring... Now that I think about it, did they know that our team would be expelled beforehand?

After taking care of the woman, I decided this method was way too inefficient, pulled a club from my ring, and grinned wickedly. I found the next enemy fifteen feet away. How did this guy not hear anything? This guy, too, was robotically shooting arrows. I slipped up behind him and thumped him on the back of the head. He probably won't die from that if he does; Well, that's his fault for being too weak. I knocked out another four before the man in front of me dropped the arrow he had grabbed from the quiver hanging from his waist. Peering through the undergrowth, I spotted a man holding a fist into the air while speaking to Liu. I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I continued my mission. Who knows when they will start again, and I can see at least one arrow got through Liu's tough skin. I know it must be tough since he took an arrow meant for me, and no way did those flaming chicken disciples not recognize me. Nope, that archer was a ninth rank lianqi cultivator at the least.

Another two enemies later, I ran across my first cultivator; by my guess, she is probably fifth rank lianqi. Hmm, this could be a little problematic. Judging the correct amount of strength to knock her out will be difficult. No, I should use the method I used on the first enemy. I still way overpower this woman, so it shouldn't be a problem if I can get close enough. I was mostly correct. Although she put up more of a fight than the previous opponent, she still went limp less than two minutes later. No, the problem was that I could get that close without the woman realizing it. I literally broke a branch when I was less than seven feet from her. Something strange is going on, but I don't have time to deal with it. There should be at least three more cultivators in these woods pointing their bows at Liu and Meera. I was about to tie up another enemy when I felt a subtle pulse through the ground. If I hadn't been on high alert, I doubt I would have noticed. I turned around to find Liu smiling confidently at the man and walk out into the open, yanking the arrow from his leg as he went. Shit, why did he leave his position? I haven't finished off the rest of the cultivators yet. Better get moving before the idiot tries to get himself killed again playing hero.

I decided to take out the remaining cultivators first. As I sprinted past another person, I was completely baffled he didn't move a muscle, and I didn't even try to sneak by him. The next man was one I wanted. Instead of taking the time to suffocate him, I beat him on the head and tied him to the tree. Although I failed to knock him out, he didn't fight me as I secured him to a tree nor when I stuffed cloth into his mouth. Curiously I waved my hand in front of his face. The man never blinked. Okay, that's creepy. I may need to send a letter to the parents sooner than I thought. I ran my eyes over him one last time, noticing a collar with small silver studs. Now that I think about it didn't the two I choked out earlier have the same accessory? I quickly found the last two cultivators. Instead of trying to knock them out, I walked around them, pulled their arms around a tree, and tied them in place. After finishing the cultivators, I did the same with the rest of the normal people.

When I crept to the edge of the clearing, I spotted Meera peaking from behind the huge pack. Catching my eye, I put a finger to my lips and waved her to stay put. After getting a nod, I crept from the tree-line straight for the balding man who insisted I call him Gramps, or old man since he was the closest. Surprised I didn't get told to stop. I looked over at Liu. He was casually throwing seeds on the ground for some reason while the big guy in the filthy gear laughed at him. The moron should know that a cultivator wouldn't throw seeds on the ground before a fight for no reason, least of all Liu, who seemed to have an affinity for plants. Suddenly I stopped and stood straight, staring at the big guy in disbelief. He wasn't a cultivator at all. Why is he so calm. I closed my eyes, spreading a thin mist of my Qi outwards as far as I could. About two hundred yards or so, it's not a perfect sensory technique but better than nothing. Not like those super ancient guys who legends say have zones of absolute control where they can see everything within miles of their position.

Several moments later, I found something at the very limits of my abilities. It wasn't definite, but someone was watching things from a hidden vantage. I immediately sprinted in that direction, finally garnering the big guy's attention. I heard him screaming at me to stop or he would blah blah blah. I saw Liu mouth something at me as I ran past, but I waved him off as I passed the big guy. I didn't even try to dodge his swing, and the illusion broke on my arm as I passed. I heard a snort from Liu then felt a small seed land on my shoulder that spread out and across my upper body, giving me a living plant armor. Okay, that's neat. Why the heck was this guy only an outer disciple? His talent with plants would let him become a formal disciple to almost any elder he wanted, even with his low cultivation level.

As I once more left the clearing, no, they called it a rest area, I think. Anyway, once I crossed back into the woods, I looked over my shoulder. Liu was holding Meera close as she clung to his neck. They were heading toward the two old guys and Miss Jacynth. Foreigners have such strange names. When I found the person hiding in the shadows, I was disappointed, to say the least. He was a tall, scrawny man of middling years staring wide-eyed at me, yelling obscenities into his bracelet, ordering, I assume, the archers I tied up to his position. Grinning maliciously, I strode forward to meet our uninvited nighttime guest. "If you are trying to get your men to come to your aid, you are wasting your breath. I tied them all up... After I knocked them out." I took another step closer, and the man panicked tried to turn to run but tripped over a root falling flat on his face. I don't know for sure, but I think he may have also broken his nose. I leaned down over the top of him m as he rolled over. "You tried to kill a child. Give me a good reason not to kill you here and now."

The scrawny man tried to scuttle backward to get away from me, but I stomped down on his right shin, detecting a gratifying snapping sound soon followed by his shrieks of pain. "Three more limbs to go. Please, refrain from answering my question for as long as possible... but not too long. I am not a patient woman." After a moment of thought, I decided to change my phrasing. "I'm not patient towards child killers."

That remark seemed to get the screaming man's attention. He spat toward me, but I easily sidestepped it. Then he scowled. Well, I think he did. It's hard to tell with his face screwed up in pain. "Stupid woman, you and the child were never the targets. It's only because that one-armed fool dove over top of the child. If he had taken the arrows without moving, neither you nor the child would be in any danger... Well, not until you were sold getting my employers and me a hefty sum in our coin purses." I may have accidentally broken the disgusting man's other leg during the light interrogation. I learned more about slavers than I ever wanted to know. I couldn't get the slime to mention who his employers were, and I also never asked for his name. I didn't care to try and humanize the scum. After hogtying the man, I began dragging him through the trees back toward our camp, ignoring his curses and screams as I made a rough path over rocks, roots, and scrub.