Blood Bonds And Golden Ties

Chapter 38: A Deal Struck

[Shi Han Jun]

Han Jun shot to his feet and puffed out his chest. "You want to fight again? I thought you learned your lesson."

"I..." he looked at his feet. "Listen, I'm sorry. I..."

"You what? Now that no one wants to talk to you, now you want to be nice? That's not going to work! If you had been mean to me, I could forgive you, but you were mean to my friends and that's unforgivable. Scram! You're not welcomed here!" Han Jun glared at Li Jue.

Ping Xi looked at him and waved his hand. "Well, go on. You heard him. We don't want you here."

Dejected, Li Jue trudged away.

"Goodness. That bastard. The nerve to come back! Makes me so angry!" Han Jun plopped down and started using his hand to fan himself.

"Don't be too mad, Han Jun. That bastard doesn't deserve our attention anyway," Ping Xi said.

The silence dragged on and nobody spoke. Feeling the need to speak, Han Jun said, "What do you think of the body they found in the library?"

"T-the b-body?" Cao Xin leaned in and then beckoned the others to do so. Everyone leaned in except for Li Qing.

"I-I h-heard t-that it w-was a-an a-assassin," he whispered.

"What? Impossible! Do you know which group?" Ping Xi asked.

Cao Xin shook his head.

"There is more than one group?" Han Jun asked.

"Yeah, there are two rival assassin groups: the Hei Feng and the Xi Feng. Right now, Hei Feng has the upper hand in Jiang Hu. Xi Feng has been trying to overpower Hei Feng," Ping Xi replied.

"Huh," Han Jun said absentemindedly but then as the words sunk in, his eyes grew wide. "Wait a minute, that's impossible! Why would assassins come into this academic school?"

"I-I d-don't know, b-but e-ever since y-you t-three c-came, t-the w-world has t-turned u-upsided- down," Cao Xin said jokingly, but the joke didn't reach his eyes. Does he know something?

"Well, what can I say? Maybe we are so cool that everyone wants to come after us," Han Jun said as he pushed down his unease.

"Ai, you two, always bringing the mood down. Let's move on, I don't like talking about this," Ping Xi reclined.

"Ping Xi is right, let's not be too sour. Afterall, everyone is safe and sound and we won against Li Jue. We should be celebrating," Han Jun said as he picked up his chopsticks. He tried to pick up some food from his bowl, but his bandage was so thick it made it hard to pick food up, much less control his chopsticks.

"You need help?" Xiao Zhao asked.

"No, I can do this," Han Jun tried to pick up some vegetables only to drop it at the last moment.

Li Qing grabbed his chopsticks and picked up the bowl. "Open your mouth."

Han Jun obediently did as he was told. Li Qing put the vegetables in his mouth. "Why are you helping me?"

"You look stupid and I can't take it," Li Qing said. "Here," he said as he held up a piece of meat. Han Jun opened his mouth. The meat was sweet and juicy. "Mmmm, this is good," Han Jun exclaimed.

"Everything tastes good when you're sick," Xiao Zhao said.

"No, it tastes better when Li Qing is feeds you," Han Jun replied as he opened his mouth for another bite.

Li Qing slammed the bowl on the table along with the chopsticks. "Han Jun, watch your words. This is no joking matter."

"Come on... I was joking..." Han Jun grabbed Li Qing's sleeve and tugged at it. "I'm wrong...ok? Feed me?"