Blood River

25. Group Hunt: Part Twelve

"So there is a random maniac stealing corpses?" Nie Yuèrú spoke unamused while seating across from an old man who looked mortified to the point of shaling in his seat while looking down to avoid her gaze.

As she spoke, she ate sunflower seeds and had a jar of rice wine next to her. Sitting next to Yuèrú was Wen Jinghua who looked just as scared as the man who sat across from them.

Seeing as no response came her way, Yuèrú looked up at the elder who almost grimaced with her glare - most people were scared of her with just a look or interaction, hence why her reputation wasn't too good - seeing the man cower she scoffed, already finding him weak and annoying.

"Are you the one that sent the letter or not?!" She yelled and not only the two on her table but everyone in the tavern visibly jolted from her abruptly loud voice. Wen Jinghua was quick to remedy the other's mistake, apologizing to the other people and the tavern's workers.

"I-it was me, young maiden La-"

Cutting off the older man, Yuèrú spoke, "Do I look like a Lan to you? Nie! It's young maiden Nie." She corrected aggressively and Jinghua felt pity for the man - the Wen girl had gotten used to the Nie sect hier's low temperment throughout their trip to Hanxiang, the city they were currently at.

The man was sweating despite the extremely cold weather, obviously trembling as he was interrogated.

Wen Jinghua sighed already growing accustomed to the Nie hier's behaviour.

....

Nie Yuèrú and Wen Jinghua had been roomates throughout their stay in Gusu, yet somehow they had never spoken to each other properly.

While Nie Yuèrú woke up earlier than most Lans so she could train before lectures, Wen Jinghua slept in and was late to most lectures if her younger sister didn't wake her up on time. While Yuèrú was a straight A student in both written and practical tasks, Jinghua was just average - getting higher grades in memorization based topics in lectures rather than analysis and skills; basically, the two were complete polar opposites.

The day Hanguang-Jun had announced the night hunts the two didn't discuss anything with one another, Yuèrú simply made her way to Hanguang-Jun's office to get her assignment. That same night though, she spoke to the Wen sect's hier for the first time, "Wen guniang." She greeted when the older girl walked into their shared room, this obviously startled Jinghua who looked surprised the younger was speaking to her.

Without paying any mind to the girl's reaction Yuèrú set two tea cups down and poured the boiling water into both porcelain bodies. The Wen hier was confused by the sudden interaction, but sat across her nonetheless. As soon as she did, the Nie sect hier spoke again, "I haven't gotten to see you fight, what level are your skills?" She asked seriously, looking up at her after putting the tea kettle down, the stream from the same flowing slowly in front of her giving her ascary aura.

The Wen hier was wierded out at first, the Nie clan's elder twin hier had an interesting reputation, Even the Lans knew about all the bullying and other scandals that followed the hier's aggressive nature. What she currently saw across her was a complete opposite of all she had heard so far - despite still being cold and intimidating, Nie Yuèrú seemed more misunderstood than scary to her.

"Uh..." Jinghua started after a pause. She knew a lot about the Nie sect hier through her uncle, her mother's elder brother*; Jin Zixian - Nie Yuèrú's own father.

Knowing how seriously the girl took cultivation as well as having seen it for herself in the past three weeks, Jinghua didn't know how to admit her own shortcomings, not to mention how straightforward the question was - almost like talking to an adult, or a stone even, given the lack of expression the younger girl wore. She didn't know what to say.