How To Polish A Pearl

Chapter 28 - Carrying

Five minutes, and a lot of cursing, later he has pushed, pulled, shoved and, yes - he admits - kicked the trousers and robe on to Wen Ke Xing.

"Fuck, you are heavy!" Looking at the white clothed man with a blood red face, the vision would have haunted him in his dreams if he didn't already have other visions that gnawed his very soul. "Are you really not going to wake up?"

Not really sure why he just doesn't throw this beast off the cliff, he takes a few deep breaths and starts towards the passageway. The unconscious Ghost Valley Guzhu wrapped snug on his back with arms hanging around his neck. His hands clamped around Wen Ke Xing's thighs that are hanging around his waist.

"Are you really going to make me carry you back home?" Not expecting a response, he moves carefully between the fallen rocks and cracks. "You better be freaking grateful when you wake up."

He navigates through the passageways slow and steady, without any hesitation. He remembers the route as clear as he had walked it a thousand times before. His head is throbbing and his body screaming for every step and every breath.

When he reaches a fork, he doesn't even hesitate. Adjusting his grip around the thighs, making sure the body is secure against his back, he heads up the mountainside towards Jianchan. Exhausted, he falls several times, taking the hit on his knees, this time his turn to protecting the other. Every time, getting back up to continue the ascend, unsure as to where this willpower originates.

Approaching the gates, he is not even sure how he got there. Too tired to avoid another fault line, he stumbles and falls to his already raw knees. With dimmed eyes, he sees the guards sprinting towards them, a girl in purple following close behind.

"Zhuren! Zhuren!"

Anxiously, she starts to tug at Wen Ke Xing. "Zhuren! What happened? Was it the earthquake? WHAT DID YOU DO? GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

With the help of two guards, she pulls Wen Ke Xing from Zhou Xu's back and they move through the gate and into the courtyard.

'Kill or be killed" rings in his head and he get up from his knees and pushes forward pulling his sword.

"What are you doing? Qingfu, get out of the way." Ah-Xiang steps in front of him and he raises the bayonet towards her throat.

"I am not leaving his side."

"Who do you think you are!?" She yells, one hand on the whip hanging at her left hip.

"Who am I? I am the Nu Zhuren of Ghost Valley and you will do as I tell you."

"Don't think that you..."

"You all heard your Guzhu," Cutting her off and raising his voice so that all within the courtyard can hear him. "Other than him, no one else is above me. That means you do as I tell you."

With furious eyes, she stares at Zhou Xu. What the hell!

"I am not leaving his side. I am coming with you."

"Fine!", she yells and pushes through the ghosts that have gathered in the courtyard. Pointing at a random guard, she barks "You, go get the doctors. NOW!" and watches as the guard takes off sprinting without even acknowledging the command. Idiot.

Zhou Xu walks silently after the ghosts carrying Wen Ke Xing in through the lightly damaged entrance to the pavilion, heading towards the master bed chamber. Inside the furniture and decorations have managed to survive the previous shock, with only a few having fallen over or hanging askew on the walls.

Once inside, he stands silently to the side and under his watchful eyes the entire pavilion springs into action under Ah-Xiang's command. Nameless servants buzzes like flies swarming on a hot summers night. The bed is covered with blankets before Wen Ke Xing is carefully laid on top of it.