The Night Breeze Whispers Your Name

16. The Aftermath

The sound of sword clashing filled the air and forcing my eyes open, I saw the blurry figure of Mu Ning blocking Noxious's sword with his.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I barely heard him yelling.

"Stay out of it or you will join him!"

I couldn't hear Mu Ning's reply as with Noxious words Sly attacked me again. I grabbed his arms with my diminishing strength. My consciousness was slipping away and the gushing blood from my side wound only contributed to it. Soon, I found myself being pushed towards the cliff. The ground disappeared under my feet and I closed my eyes.

"NO!" I heard an agitated voice before my arm was trapped in a tight grip. My body swayed with the pull and crashed on the rocks of the cliff.

"Hang on!" I saw Mu Ning on his knee at the edge of the cliff, with one hand holding me while the other holding his sword pinned on the ground. Even with my blurry vision, I could see the agitation and fear on his lovely face.

"Let go," I said with no less difficulty as I saw Sly approaching. I didn't fear death as knowing Mu Ning wasn't the one who planned all this was enough for me.

"NO!" Mu Ning begged me, veins popped out with the force he showed.

"Listen to him, Mu Ning, I don't want to kill you," Sly said as he raised his sword threateningly.

"Let go..." I repeated but Mu Ning shook his head vigorously.

"Then I am sorry," Sly mumbled and kicked Mu Ning's sword. Losing the anchor, Mu Ning swayed forward and we started to fall from the cliff.

With my last bit of strength, I pulled Mu Ning towards me and enveloped him into a tight hug, trying to cover his fragile body as much as I could. I pressed his head on my chest and before long we crashed hard and everything went black.

***

"Hong Huo!"

"Hong Huo!"

"HONG HUO!"

I slowly opened my eyes and a blinding light attacked my vision while a blinding pain spread all over me.

"You are alive!" I heard Mu Ning's cheerful voice and my heart filled with happiness as he was okay. I tried to move, but Mu Ning stopped me, saying "you are injured severely, so don't move."

Well, I could feel that actually. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't move my legs and arms, they must have been broken. Still, as they would heal soon, I wasn't panicked at all, my focus was solely on Mu Ning.

"Are you... okay?" I asked with a hoarse voice, damn even breathing hurt, and with shock, I felt Mu Ning's hand on my head, caressing my hair.

"Thanks to you, I am okay," he said softly, "now tell me what you need to heal."

"Bind my broken limbs... that's enough."

"Okay," Mu Ning nodded and I heard the voice of fabric tearing. With great diligence, Mu Ning patched me up with the pieces of his green robe and in order not to agitate him more than he already was, I bit my tongue and endured the pain silently. Similarly, he kept his silence during the patching, but when he was done, he slumped next to me and said "we need to take you to the temple, your wounds are too serious."

"Just give me a day... I will be okay," I squeezed the words out in between my clenched teeth. The pain was unbearable.

"Okay," Mu Ning murmured with apparent reluctance. I heard him shifting next to me and then my head was lifted gently and put on something soft which turned out to be Mu Ning's legs. Patting my chest softly, he said "you should sleep some, don't worry I will be here."

Despite the pain, I smiled as I drifted back to sleep, feeling so safe and happy in the arms of Mu Ning.

When I woke up for the second time, it was due to the pain. After a second of confusion, I noticed I was on Mu Ning's back, my head resting on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I fidgeted to get down. Mu Ning was almost half the size of me, so my weight must have been crushing him.

"Don't... move..." Mu Ning tightened his hold and attempted to continue to walk. As if I would let him.

"Stop," I said and reluctantly Mu Ning put me down on the ground before slumping next to me. "I told you to wait for a day, why don't you listen to me?" I reprimanded him lightly, seeing the sweat drops on his forehead.

"It is getting dark and your condition is still the same, so I am taking you back," he said firmly before he put his hand on his right upper leg and grimaced. Only then did I notice the green fabric was wet under his hand, the green color darker. Blood. A lot.

"Is it my blood?" I asked with panic as I reached forward to check with my half-healed hand.

"Y-yes," Mu Ning stuttered as he swatted my hand gently.

"Show me," I said with authority and heaving a sigh, Mu Ning complied. He unfolded his upper garment and I saw the huge red mark and a slit on the inner garment. My eyes must have darkened as Mu Ning tried to console me.

"It is not serious, just a shallow cut," he said reassuringly as if I would buy it.

"Cut my finger and rub the wound with my blood," I said, revealing my biggest secret.

"What?! No!" Mu Ning was terrified, maybe it sounded repugnant to him.

"I will do it, you just close your eyes then," I said, but Mu Ning refuted again.

"You are hurt already, use it for yourself," he said concernedly, so I had only one fast solution left; biting my lip before smashing my lips to Mu Ning's, passing him a few drops of my miracle blood.