Chương 27: Seeking a Different Death, II

It was morning again. They stood outside, in the cold and the dark. Father had just finished his speech.

"For the Red Dawn," Father proclaimed. A hundred voices answered: "The dawn rises eternal!" In a way, Wu Hao mused, that was even true. His dawns seemed eternal. But then they were marching off to go get their mission from Uncle. The man had gone ahead to the separate field, but this time Wu Hao didn't just walk over and join the rest of the group as they joined the rest of the procession heading towards Uncle Bai. Instead, he deliberately slowed down.

He didn't hurry, didn't follow the pace of the others - he just hung back, observing, moving slowly. Uncle Bai seemed to have handed out the missions by going down the row of Brothers, which was organized by numbers. Wu Hao was hoping he'd break that. If they'd all arrived at the same time, then they'd bunch up, but if 726 came later then he might get a different mission. It wasn't a foolproof plan, by any means. It was honestly a pretty stupid plan, if Wu Hao were to say so himself.

It was the best he had, though - he had no other way of influencing where 726 stood. He couldn't ask, so - A fist slammed into his face and Wu Hao jerked back, too stunned to even move as he began to spin and fall. When his back hit the ground, though, he scrabbled back up again as quickly as he could, staring at 726 as he did. The other boy still had his fists up and Wu Hao raised his own in response, bringing them up to eye level as the other boy had done.

"Why?" Wu Hao asked, trying to remain calm. 726's eyes narrowed.

"You know why." He took a step forward, which Wu Hao matched. One step's distance remained between them, and they were so close that whoever chose to break first would get the first blow in. But, for some reason, neither of them moved. Something kept Wu Hao at that distance, telling him that it wasn't the right time yet. Confusion had begun to give way to anger, and Wu Hao let his frustration show freely.

"I don't know why," he said. 726 twitched and Wu Hao tensed, but then the other boy grunted and the moment passed. Wu Hao let his shoulders unclench just a little bit, trying to save energy.

"You," 726 said bitterly, "are trying to take my position as Brother." Wu Hao stared, struck speechless. He almost lowered his fists instinctively before reality caught up with him again.

"What?"

"Yesterday, you talked back," 726 said.

"Yesterday, you took over deciding who takes which field. That is a Brother's task. This morning, you were first out of the tent. That is a Brother's role. It lets him count how many of the others there are." He spoke slowly at first, but as he continued, anger made him speed up, like the words were burning him.

"Now this," 726 spat.

"You'll try to undermine me in front of Uncle? When we're about to be allowed to do our first mission ever?"

"You don't understand," Wu Hao said in response.

"There's -""What is there to understand?" 726 retorted, cutting Wu Hao off mid-word.

"You want my position. I am not giving it away." Both fists were raised, hovering next to his face protectively.

"I don't," Wu Hao said slowly. Brothers were supposed to have better training. Not as much as the Honor Guard and far from one of the Uncles, but they received extra cultivation guidance, a certain understanding in being allowed to choose tasks. Not responsibility, but the ability to pick who would do which tasks. A direct channel to the Uncles, which was a honor in and of itself. All of those were worthless to Wu Hao.

He had gained more from dying than Father would ever teach him, had taken far more freedom than the camps would ever allow him. But clearly the advantages mattered to 726. Enough to fight him over them.

"I don't care," 726 said.

"You were out of line. I'll rein you in." Yeah, sure. Wu Hao had the suspicion that the other boy just wanted to vent his anger, and he'd been picked as the target. Wu Hao changed stances. Not what he'd learned from Uncle Bai, but a technique that he'd gotten from the system. He shoved his left foot back so that his right foot was forwards, lifted his right arm in front of him like a shield and curled his left hand next to his side.

This was the Heavy Fist - the Earth-tier martial art technique that he'd once learned from being killed by 589, from the Honor Guard. He'd never used it before. If 726 noticed, he had to have mentally noted it on his list of infractions, but he didn't say anything. Then 726 darted forward, breaking the stalemate. His rags flapped as he took that one step as fast as he could, arm flying out in a quick punch meant to skewer Wu Hao's belly.

Wu Hao let his right fist drop, shoving it in front of 726's face as he came forward, forcing the other boy to turn his head and his hips not to slam into Wu Hao's fist, but twisting like that robbed his punch of its target. His arm slipped forward, slapping against Wu Hao's raised right arm. It stung a little and it jolted him, but that was all. Wu Hao dropped down as low as he could and as quickly as he could, before launching a punch with his left arm that slammed into 726's shoulder.

They both retreated from the tangle of the other's arms, their separation lasting only a moment before Wu Hao stepped forwards again, right arm held up before him like a shield and his left a lance ready to pierce. 726's eyes narrowed as he stared at Wu Hao's fist, juking left and right to try and get a better angle, but Wu Hao kept pace. His fist followed 726's eyes, trying to line them up so that the other boy's sight remained focused on his fist.

That lasted a few heartbeats before 726 gave up and just ran forward again, trying to get past Wu Hao's outstretched fist and hammer him below the ribs, the throat, or maybe the eyes. Those were the targets they'd been trained to go for. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. But the moment 726's hand shot out into a jab meant for Wu Hao's liver, Wu Hao'd already predicted what the other boy would do.

He'd come in too low to try and hit above the chest, and he knew 726 well enough that it was a certainty that the other boy would aim for his liver. After all, the liver hurt the most to get hit in. Wu Hao's right arm remained upright despite a reflexive twitch, but his left hand launched out, and he burned a little qi on making sure that it got to its destination. He'd expected resistance - an attempt to block, or maybe that 726 would try to dodge. But his fist landed straight into the middle of 726's ribs.

Wu Hao could feel the flesh and bones of his knuckles crash against the bottom of 726's ribs and sink just a little bit lower, before 726 let out a shocked little grunt and fell. 726 sank to his knees, the breath forced out of his lungs instantly when Wu Hao had punched him. He hadn't been hit that hard, but it was a lethal combination to get hit right there without expecting it at all. Wu Hao stared, lips parted slightly in surprise. He kept his fist up, though. Had that been it?

He'd been in fights for his life before, and he'd fought other deathsworn before when it was being decided who'd become a Brother. While he hadn't done well, he'd also not done awfully enough that he was considered a failed product. All the time, he'd thought that he was middle of the pack at best. Now he'd beaten 726 with a single punch. The other boy glared up at Wu Hao, then tried to rise to his feet. They were unsteady, though, and he still hadn't gotten any of his breath back.

All that was keeping him upright was training and a desire not to fall, but even that had its limits. Wu Hao knew that because he'd met every single one of those limits. He watched 726 stumble into a half-hearted fighting stance, and the other boy's lungs began to function again, drawing in a sweet breath of air. When it did, a thin scent of pine needles began to filter out and Wu Hao's eyes narrowed. 726 was using his qi. Not as well as Wu Hao could - he didn't have the practice - but he was using it, nonetheless.

If the other boy didn't recognize that he was beaten, then Wu Hao needed to show it for sure. So Wu Hao punched him again, twisting on one foot so that he had a clear shot with his left arm, winding back, and hitting 726 in the cheek hard enough that Wu Hao could almost feel the sides of 726's teeth. The other boy crashed to the ground again. This time Wu Hao lowered his fists, shaking his left hand to try and get the sting out. Punching someone hurt.

There were probably ways around that but none that Wu Hao knew right now. Shaking his head, he moved closer to 726, whose eyes snapped to his, seething with anger. He spat blood and fragments of teeth on the ground.

"You," 726 growled, voice full of hate and pain. Wu Hao raised another fist.

"Had enough?" he asked.

"You wanted this." If 726's eyes had promised pain before, they promised murder now. Wu Hao held back a sigh. Instead, he raised his head and looked around. Everyone in their group was standing in a loose circle - 732, 723, 729, 720. All of them were watching, some with arms crossed and others with arms at their side trying to look relaxed. None of them had their hands balled into fists. No one seemed angry that Wu Hao had beaten 726 or refused to admit it.

The only emotion that Wu Hao saw, if they showed him anything at all, was some surprise and some respect. Assessing glances, wondering how strong he actually was. He'd take it. A hand clamped around his ankle and Wu Hao froze. He stared down, seeing that 726 had crawled closer. The grip around his ankle grew tight as if 726 was trying to squeeze him to death, but Wu Hao ripped his foot out of the other boy's fingers with another quick application of qi.

Then, leaning down, he punched 726 again, this time in the small of his back. The other boy sagged. This time, he didn't get up again. A silence fell over the group.

"Is he dead?" 729 asked. 732 looked at Wu Hao, who looked back blankly. Taking this as a sign of something, 732 walked forward, placed a hand under 726's chest, and flipped him over. A raking hand swept past 732's head, but missed him entirely. When he stepped back, it was clear that 726 wasn't dead. He was, however, boiling with anger, and as he sat up his eyes locked onto Wu Hao's. Had he tried to play dead? Wu Hao could respect that. He might have to try it, one of these days.

Stepping forward again, Wu Hao saw the wariness in 726's eyes. The other boy couldn't get up, but he did try to raise his fists again. Wu Hao reached out with a single hand, took hold of a part of 726's rags, and ripped his hand back. He opened his hand again and saw a small pin lying his hand, with a nail so sharp that it'd forced a drop of blood where it'd pricked him. He wiped the blood on the bit of rag that he'd ripped along with it, then showed the pin to the group.

"Starting today," Wu Hao announced, "I am the Brother in charge. I do not expect objections. I will report to Uncle Bai, as planned." A confused silence spread over the group. They turned to 726, wondering if it was actually over. Still sitting in the dirt, cheek rapidly purpling, he clenched his hands once, twice. Wu Hao grunted, and then 726's hands unclenched as he gave up. That was that, then. Now he'd face Uncle Bai in a battle of wits. He hoped that that would be as easy as this had been.

Shaking his head, not looking back, he walked off to go get their mission. The rest followed in his wake.