The Night Breeze Whispers Your Name

3. Tossing and Turning

I couldn't sleep well.

How could I sleep well when the mattress and the pillow under me were too comfortable, and there were four others present in the room? I twisted and turned for a long time before getting rid of the pillow and the blanket in an attempt to mimic my usual uncomfortable sleeping. Luckily, it worked and I managed to doze off.

"Good morning people!"

I woke up with a start, hearing the cheerful voice. With half-opened eyes, I saw Annoying was standing in front of the mattresses with an annoying smile.

"Shut up!" one of them yelled and I couldn't agree more.

"The sun rose, we will be late for breakfast," Annoying said softly, ignoring the rude remark.

"You don't need to pretend to be nice, all of us know it is a competition," Angry said coldly, his cold eyes squinted towards Annoying.

Annoying sighed, "we will spend two months together and the winner will be based on skills, so no need to be so hostile," he said and moved towards the door, "I already woke you up, so it is up to you to show up at breakfast or not."

I looked behind him for a second before getting out of the mattress. Ignoring the gossiping behind Annoying, I wore the simple white robe they gave us and left the room as well.

"Is there anything you need to report?" the old guy I asked Annoying when everyone took their same places in front of the small tables.

"No, Shifu," Annoying replied and the breakfast was served. Maybe I should ask whether or not I could stay there as an eternal representative, two times of a meal and a warm mattress all I ever wanted from that cruel life.

The breakfast time passed in silence. Like the first time, Annoying wanted to give his baozi, but I grabbed his wrist and stopped him harshly. I had no desire to be indebted or to get close to any of those pests.

After breakfast, the old guy III took us to the garden to start the first day of training. He made us sit in a position creating a circle and he was in the middle. He talked and talked, trying to explain the principles of meditating. Who knew, maybe he was saying something super useful, but I was super bored. Still, there was a part of his speech which entertained me a lot.

"Connect with your qi to reveal your true power."

Seriously? If I did that I could wipe out the entire mountain area! Not that I cared though. I even tried to do what he said, but unfortunately, the curse mark put a barrier between me and my demonic power. As I was different from them, nothing the old guy III said could work for me. Therefore, I developed another skill during the long training session: sleeping in a sitting position...

After one hundred years, the old guy III finally let us go. I took a bath in the cold river, trying to get rid of the dull pain in my legs caused by sitting cross-legged for one hundred years. When I was done, I rushed back to the hall for dinner.

Like usual, Angry and Noxious complained about the plainness of the food, Sly and Annoying ate in silence, but they kept taking furtive glances in our direction while I was just staring at my tray as I munched the food slowly. The tension in the hall could kill, but I didn't care because I could kill faster than it.

When the trays emptied, we went to our room. I took off my outer robe and lied on my mattress, leaving no room for interaction.

"Today's training was extremely useless," Noxious snorted as he sat cross-legged on his mattress.

"I agree, they are just wasting our time with trivia training," Angry supported Noxious just as I expected.

"Maybe you are too stupid to gain something out of it, hmm?" Sly's words fell like a stone and tension rose immediately.

"What did you say?" Angry jumped on his feet and I took a sitting position to enjoy the show.

"Stop it!" Annoying came in between Angry and Sly, ruining my show, "we are not enemies!"

"Whatever!" Angry snorted, but he returned back to his mattress.

As my show was over before starting, I lied down back and closed my eyes. The others moved around for a while before all the voices died down and candles were blown. Before long, I heard the steady breathing of the others, but sleep didn't touch me. As I had already slept during the long training and still didn't get used to the comfort of the mattress, I tossed and turned in vain.

When it was around midnight, I gave up and decided to get some fresh air. Without making any sound, I rose to my feet and reached the door before a voice stopped me.

"Where are you going?"

I turned around and saw Annoying was sitting on his mattress, his almond eyes fixed on me.

I could tell him that I couldn't sleep and needed some air, but no. I hated and despised them all, so I rather said "it is none of your business."

"Well, he is the room head, so it is his business," Sly commented and I cursed my luck.

"Then stop me," I said threateningly before rushing out of the room and disappearing through the dark night. As I expected, they didn't dare to chase me, so I just relaxed on a random roof, watching the moon.

When I got bored, I jumped off the roof and went back to the room where Annoying was still sitting in the same position.

"I have to tell Shifu about this," he said softly, his eyes shining in the dark.

"Say it," I dared him with a grin and lied on my mattress, my back facing him.

Well, he was honest, he really did what he said.