Legend of Fei

25. Can You Stop Splattering Blood on Me?

She wasn't the one to back down or worry about the odds but Xie Yun was and he appeared on the shop door just that moment. She knew she couldn't win this without revealing her identity, without Poxue skills.

She looked away from his concerned eyes and drew her sabre. 

"We are here to see XiaoBo," his words had a mixed reaction in the circle. A few of the men retreated hurriedly while others grew sharper, ferocious at the name and others lost there attack stance, unsure of which side to take.

A'Fei never moved. One man broke the circle, "I'll bring your body to Xiaobo."

He was quick. The first three movements were hurried. He was already thinking about his next move before making the first. He was by no means talented as she dodged. She broke his speed by countering with a slow movement. She attacked but her speed was slower than normal while he defended early, leaving his side unprotected. She changed direction and slicked through his side.

Another took his place but this time it was knifes rather than a fists and she cut through his steel like paper making him run in the opposite direction. It had an effect on the whole group. Everyone halted. Murmurs rang around her and she saw Xie Yun in the sky, blocking the sun from her eyes and land beside her in the next moment.

"Friends. We can solve this amicably, no need to shed blood. Maybe we can help each other out. You tell us what you want of us and in return you take us to Xiaobo."

"There is a price on her. I want the price." One of them came forward boldly while others eyed A'Fei's sword.

"I am afraid, we can't do that. Maybe something else?" A'Fei never let her guard down, instead changed her stance towards the man that declared his intentions.

"Then I will take it." His words weren't over before A'Fei's sword was at his throat.

"You were saying my friend?" Xie Yun smiled as amiably as ever, hands behind his back in a scholarly manner.

"We can settle this another way." the man amended.

A'Fei didn't relent until Xie Yun placed a hand on her shoulder. She sheathed her saber  and moved a step back but her hand never moved from the hilt, eyes shifting to others.

With the sword gone from his neck, the man's eyes changed. He dived for Xie Yun's neck. She swung her saber to cut of his path and ended up severing his hand, bone, blood and muscle all gone and Xie Yun stepped back, saving himself from the hand and the blood.

"No more settling," she told Xie Yun who smiled only wider, "Aye, come on, don't do that. Not everyone is like that." 

They blatantly ignored the horrified and pained man who staggered back screaming with his bleeding wrist close to his chest. The group disbanded completely and someone helped the man away. Only a few men remained.

"I'll take you to Xiaobo." a boy called tentatively and the couple turned around. It was a pretty young kid.

"No funny business." Xie Yun shook his finger at the lanky boyish face who nodded vigorously and hurried away from them.

"It might be a trap." his whisper halted her but he swung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side, "Keep moving."

She was about to question his plan when she felt the familiar sensation, a prickle at the back of her neck. She threaded her fingers with his dangling hand to her other side and squeezed.

Hard.

"Ow. A'Fei." he called her name like a complain but suddenly fell quiet for a long moment. The gangly boy before them turned to the inner parts of the city.