The Night Breeze Whispers Your Name

15. The End...?

"As you all know, by this time tomorrow, you will be here for a month. To mark the half-way through, we will have the liquor ceremony at dinner, so don't forget to sit accordingly," the old guy I said after the training session.

As I had no idea what he talked about, I asked Mu Ning at dinner.

Apparently, the liquor ceremony was a kind of friendship celebration. The representatives sat in a circle according to the clan order, which was Mu-Huo-Tu-Jin-Shui, and the old guys sat in the middle. Then starting from Mu, each representative filled the cup of the one coming after him and when all cups were filled, the representatives drank the liquor at the same time. The action was repeated three times, showing the trust and friendly rivalry between the representatives.

Sounds silly, right?

Indeed, it sounded quite silly, but how could I guess it would turn out to be extremely evil and bloody?

The next day after the training, we were sent to our room to wear our clan robes. When we exited the room, Mu Ning was in green, I was in red, Angry was in yellow, Noxious was in white and Sly was in black. With this order, we entered the hall and sat on our respectable tables which had a white jug and white a cup. After the old guys took their seats in the middle, the ceremony began with the guqin sound.

First, Mu Ning poured me a cup with his usual smile. Putting the cup down, I grabbed my jug and filled Angry's, then he repeated the action for Noxious. From Noxious to Sly and when Sly filled Mu Ning's, we all raised our cups and guzzled down the liquor.

As it was my first time drinking something like that, I thought it was how it was supposed to taste. However, while waiting for the second round to finish, my stomach started to burn and an itchy feeling spread all over me. At first, I thought it was how being drunk felt, but after the second cup, the burning got stronger and my limbs started to get numb. I looked at the others to see if they were the same, but no. All looked fine, and only then did it occur to me.

It was poison.

I was panicking inwardly but I kept a calm face. With shaky fingers, I held my cup while Mu Ning filled the third dose of poison with a friendly smile.

Could it be him? Would he do such an evil thing to me? Was his friendliness all pretending while his kind words all lies? It was him who told me not to trust anyone, was it what he meant? He was the only one from whom I wouldn't suspect, but it was his jug which was filling my helpless cup.

I was confused and hurt like hell and the increasing effects of the poison didn't help me any. Still, no matter what I wouldn't let anyone hurt Mu Ning because of this incident. Thanks to him, I tasted the feeling of being a human, so even if it was him who attempted to kill me, I would let him go. Therefore, with the sign, I raised my third cup and guzzled it down, my eyes locked on Mu Ning.

The third cup accelerated the numbness and the burning. I felt blood filling into my mouth, so I jumped on my feet and left the hall, ignoring the old guys' shouting. I ran towards the stone wall as I decided to hide in the forest until I healed. Indeed, poison wasn't good enough to kill me, 'my' clan already tried it before; however, it took some time for my body to get rid of it. When I jumped over the wall, my senses started to fade and I spat a mouthful of blood, so I slumped under a tree.

"Still alive?"

Hearing the voice, I barely opened my eyes. With my blurry vision, I saw Noxious, Angry and Sly were standing in front of me.

Of course it was the pest-trio...

"He is really a demon, otherwise he must have been dead already!"

"Then let's finish him for sure," one of them said and I saw the shining metal of a sword. I felt the wind caused by the rushing blade and caught it before it penetrated through my heart.

"Damn!" Angry shouted, trying to save the blade from my grip, but I didn't let it go. The blood was gushing out of my cut palm, but I didn't let it go. Mustering all my strength, I leaned forward and hit the blade with my free hand. With the force, Angry dropped the handle and I grabbed it before stabbing Angry from his stomach.

As I knew he had no chance to survive, I used the opportunity and started slouching around towards a random direction. Tinnitus, numbness, pain and blurriness made it very difficult for me to move, but the desire for revenge gave me power.

However, as luck would never be on my side, the direction I randomly took brought me to a cliff.

Dead end.

I cursed my luck and spat blood again. Then, with my jelly legs, I turned around to go back, but saw Noxious and Sly were blocking the road. Apparently, Angry's death didn't shock them as much as I wished.

"Admit it, this is the end," Noxious snorted as they lunged at me together.

Somehow I managed to escape from Sly's sword, but doing it, I gave Noxious the chance to stab me from my side. Staggering, I moved backwards and saw the raised blade.

So, it was really the end, ha?