Ru followed Rong and even from a distance she could hear the sound of fighting. As they came close, she saw a single man clad in black who was turning out to be a nightmare for over twenty skilled people from her own team and Rong's team. A flash of surprise flashed through her eyes before she jumped into the fight herself and held the hand of that so-called nightmare who was about to through a very deadly strike on the person beside him.
"I didn't think this corrupt organization could actually have skilled masters like you," said Ru in her usual cold but very calm voice as if she was talking about the weather. Her eyes narrowed slightly when the man tried to resist. Getting impatient, she brought her hand up and in a blink of an eye, her palm struck at the man's chest throwing him off-balance as he fell down while blood spurted out of his mouth.
The side of her hand was gonna struck the side of his neck when Rong placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Little brother, show some loyalty and common sense. In your rage, the only thing you're seeing is blood." Ru raised her brows at his remark while he pointed at something. Ru followed the movement of his hand and finally, her eyes fell on the jade emblem hanging from the other man's waist.
"How is..." she was lost for words. After being momentarily shocked, she shook the man saying, "What is a member of Shadowwick state doing here?"
The man pulled down his mask and looked at Ru's green eyes with a look of bewilderment. His pain was completely forgotten as he bowed his head. "Young master Ru..."
Ru's brows quirked up slightly, "You recognize me? I thought people won't even remember my name after ten years."
"Young master Ru is being humble. Who would dare forget young master Ru? Young master Haoran says, 'Legends can be lost but they can't be forgotten.' The name Ru is itself a legend for warriors."
His words awoke complicated emotions within Ru. Her brows knotted slightly, "Don't tell me that the youngest of our family is in these woods right now." It was a wild shot but something told her that she right.
The man pursed his lips and didn't dare to look up. There were way too many stories back home involving the person standing before him. And he really didn't wish to find out whether all of those stories were true or not. Because the thing that was consistent in all the tales he heard was the ruthless nature of young master Ru.
His silent agreement made Ru's face twitch in anger. "Where is he?" she inquired. "Take me to him."
Meanwhile, Xie Haoran who was oblivious to the fact that his appearance just made his favorite brother's anger to reach a new pinnacle was busy lamenting, "Junior brother, you owe me big time. My precious sword is stained in blood because of you."
"It's not the first time that your blade has tasted blood, Senior brother," reminded Zhang Han with a roll of his eyes. After getting the first-aid, he had requested the same girl to look over Lily to see if she had any injuries while he surveyed their surroundings. After all, a certain high and mighty young master was acting way too carelessly again.
"Yes, it's not the first time," agreed Xie Haoran before continuing, "But it's the first time, I've killed a wolf with my precious blade." His face looked guilty as he added, "How am I gonna face Midnight after this?"
Zhang Han gritted his teeth to keep himself from throwing some profanities his way. How could he be worried about his pet wolf back home? Yes, 'Midnight' was the name of Xie Haoran's little wolf. The irony was that 'Midnight' was actually a wolf with pure white fur. It wouldn't be wrong to say that his naming sense was as bad as his older brother.
Xie Haoran sighed as he looked up at the sky and mumbled, "I'm sorry Midnight. But I had to kill one of your kind to save one of mine."
Suddenly, Xie Haoran and Zhang Han both felt the presence of people getting closer to them. Zhang Han was alert while Xie Haoran looked really indifferent about it. He languidly took out his handkerchief to clean his blade.
"HAORAN!" That loud voice brought a smile to Xie Haoran's face as he turned around to look at his Ru bro and his eyes sparkled.
"Haoran?" he heard another voice which wasn't as loud as the first one and looked at the person standing beside Ru. His eyes widened in surprise.
"Rong Ge..." he called out before running over to his side and threw a punch at his face without holding back. Rong's people were immediately angered as they tried to make a move but Rong held his hand up signaling them to step back. Really, why was everyone greeting him with a punch? First, it was Ru and now little Ran as well?
"It's nice to see you too little cousin," said Rong while he touched the side of his face and even tried to move his jaw. Fortunately, his jaw wasn't dislocated but it was gonna leave an ugly bruise. Then his hand touched Xie Haoran's head who was as almost as tall as him now and smiled, "You've finally gotten taller, little shortie!"
Xie Haoran hit his chest, "You! How could you! How could you leave me alone?"
Ru chuckled at the side which infuriated Xie Haoran even more, "Ru Ge, just because I didn't lash out at you don't think you're any better than him."
"You mean you didn't hit little brother? Why so biased little cousin?" asked Rong feeling wronged all of a sudden.
"Because I and the whole clan expected something reckless from Ru Ge but not from you! Rong Ge was known as the perfect example of being responsible. But you failed us by recklessly following this troublemaker out of the clan."
Xie Haoran's explanation made more sense then they really thought it would. How weird! Or maybe not. Everyone was familiar with Ru's nature. Nothing could stop her if she set her mind to something. Even if the sky fell, she'd still do what she had planned. The only thing that mattered to her was whether her actions would benefit herself or not? The rest didn't matter. But Rong was different, he would only do what he felt right for others.
It was a famous saying back in Shadowwick state, Ru is reckless/ruthless and Rong is responsible. Perhaps because of their contrasting nature, they had been put in a team. Rong was like Ru's shadow who would make sure that a certain young master won't go overboard with her recklessness or ruthlessness. Either of those spelled trouble!
Getting tired of this talk, Ru pinched Xie Haoran's neck from behind and questioned, "What the hell are you doing here?"