Xuelei, Tears of Blood

Chapter 19 - Report

Xuelei kept his face expressionless as he tried to concentrate on what his brothers were saying. All seven of them were in the main hall and reporting the latest mission. The Master and Mistress were listening attentively, occasionally asking questions.

Li was talking, his voice had taken a monotonous droning tone. The gruelling ride back had worsened Xuelei's condition. They had not stopped to eat or rest, Minister Lay's men might be in pursuit. There might be more waiting somewhere in ambush. Trusting their endurance training, they had made a dash back to the safety of home.

As always, anyone coming in from a mission was to Report first. Food and rest came later.

Xuelei swayed where he stood, determine to get through the meeting.

"Xuelei! What do you have anything to add?" the Mistress's sharp voice broke him out of his light trance.

His head jerked up. "No, Mistress."

"Will they recognise you if they saw you again?"

"No Mistress. They do not know my true identity. To them, I am a girl named Xuehua."

"Good." She waited but he did not elaborate. He was not much for words anyway.

"Good job keeping all the hostages alive. We got some extra money from a few girls who had small rewards out for their safe return. It will be allocated accordingly."

Xuelei nodded at his Master's acknowledgement.

The meeting ended a few minutes later and the boys were dismissed. Xuelei made a beeline to his quarters and closed the door behind him indicating he wanted privacy. His brothers were worried about him but knew he wanted some time alone. They would check on him later.

Once inside his room, Xuelei went to the bathroom. His head was throbbing. His whole body ached. Gingerly he took off his shirt, wincing. His body was a mess of blue, black and purple. His touched his torso tenderly, gritting his teeth. He would not show any weaknesses, not even to his own brothers. He was the youngest and was constantly being compared to them. He had a lot to live up to.

Quickly he washed up and dried off. Returning to the room, he slathered his body liberally with some deep heating ointment and sighed in relief as he felt his muscles relaxing. The herbal medicinal smell soothed him. Finally, wearing only a loose comfortable pair of trousers, he slipped into bed and pulled the covers.

Food would have to come later.

-----------------------------------

"Do you think he is okay?"

"Yeah, he is okay. He needs to catch up on sleep though."

"Jin, how bad is he?"

Jin shrugged. "I really couldn't tell. There was some dried blood on his clothes but he acted okay. He was a little more quiet than usual when we were travelling."

"A little more quiet than usual? Hmm. That's not good."

"What do you mean?"

"He is probably hurt and holding it in, you know how he is."

"We'll check on him later .... Shhh! Mei Ling's coming! Don't tell her, she will worry."

Mei Ling bounced into the dining hall where the boys were.

"Hi! You are all back!!" she greeted them brightly. "I've missed you all. How did it go?"

"The mission was a success. We are all hungry, want to join us for a bite?"