Chương 31: "If This Kills You, I'll Know You Were Innocent”

Ch 31 "If This Kills You, I'll Know You Were Innocent" The misty evening of Blue Cloud City wrapped all around the trio as the scene under the haze began to unfold. There were bodies, and pieces of bodies, strewn about with bloody streaks angrily marking the stone bricks of the city street. The trio froze at the bloody scene as each tried to comprehend what they had just come across. A central figure came walking out of the haze, clutching an iron mask.

"That mask… that's…!" Amber's voice cracked in shock.

"Oh? You recognize this?" the man spoke. Coming into view, he was quite tall, with a large black cloak and hood on, long hair pouring out from underneath. He held up the mask. The two froze, observing the man.

"What're you two looking at?" Wing slurred, peering through both mist and blurred vision.

"Little Cabbage, that guy, he's—" Ember whispered to Amber." Dangerous." Amber finished her sentence with a whisper.

"Guys… I think I'm gonna—" Wing didn't even realize the man was there as he hobbled off against a building and started emptying his stomach with a horrible retching sound.

"I didn't expect you to recognize this mask… Amber … was it? Or do you prefer… Little Cabbage?" the man asked. He stopped close enough for them to see a sword hanging down out of his robe in his other hand. Amber froze.

"How do you know my name?" she managed to let loose from her lips. Knowing her nickname, he must have been following her at least since the Sword & Wine Bar!

"Don't be so scared, haha. After all… they came to kill you, not me," the man said, gesturing towards all of the bodies with his sword.

"Who are they?" Amber mustered her voice and shouted a bit louder.

"And you're here to what, help me?"

"Well, I may still kill you," the man said calmly, although fierce enough to make the trio retreat a step back.

"Wing!" Amber shouted as she drew a hidden dagger from under her clothes. She was already grateful for her new hidden straps. She shouted at the boy, but she looked directly at Ember.

"Take Miss Ember back! We're responsible for her as her guards!"

"No! I won't leave you! What kind of man would leave a girl in trouble?" Wing shouted as he took a drunken step forward with a clenched fist.

"You have to! It's our responsibility!" Amber didn't take her eyes off of Ember, who nodded back with understanding.

"Wing, darling! You must save me!" Ember shouted as she ran into Wing's arms. Wing froze up at the sudden feminine touch.

"We have to go and warn the city guards! If there's a demon report, they'll send help!" Ember hissed into the boy's ear.

"None of us will last if we stay here. This is what she's telling you!" Wing's brow furrowed desperately as he cursed his own inability to step in.

"But… how can we leave her?"

"Go!" Amber shouted as she drew her knife close to her body in a reverse grip.

"Yes, go, hurry," the man said, frowning as Ember dragged the boy off reluctantly.

"So that we can move onto business. So you are indeed Amber of the Lucky Tiger Caravan, I presume? Your eye color seems to match your name, so it must be correct."

"Who's asking?" Amber fired a question back, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.

"I'll take that as a yes," he spoke sternly from under the hood as long black hair framed his shadowy face. She could make out an unkempt goatee on his face as well.

"Tell me, is it true you exorcised a demonic sword at a blacksmith's in town?"

"I—" Amber choked. She didn't know if her palm marking had been revealed. What should she say? It was something her mother had told her never to reveal.

"Never mind that." His eyes suddenly grew sharp, glinting from under his shadowy cowl.

"Let's just cut to the chase. Are you a… demon?" Suddenly, a light flashed nearby that disappeared up and into the sky! A body that had appeared to be a dismembered corpse had sat up, heaving its final breaths.

"The boss… will… kill you all!" he coughed out as he crashed down, devoid of life. From the grasp of his remaining arm fell a burning piece of paper.

"Shit. My fault. Well, I don't have time to stand around and guess the truth with you, it seems," the hooded man said as his sword raised into the air. The blade began to crackle with a frightening black energy. This chill, this feeling of hollowness in her chest, it had to be demonic Qi! It was no different than what she had absorbed out of the blacksmith's sword previously, or what the demonic assassins had wielded against her. The girl's knuckles whitened on her knife as she took a step back.

"If this kills you, I'll know you were innocent," the man said, bringing his blade down. He unleashed a torrent of foul dark energy from his swing, speeding right towards Amber like a blade made out of horror. It was too fast to dodge. Amber could only throw up her hand with the mark on it by instinct, hoping to break the black Qi like she had done before. Amber yelled out as the black energy hit her outstretched palm. Her palm marking rose from the depths of her skin, its murky black ink color now fully present.

The wave of dark Qi crashed against her hand like a tidal wave of darkness, but instead of tearing through her flesh, it spiraled inwards. It was sucked into the glowing pattern, until suddenly it sounded like a thousand whispers being silenced at once. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Amber felt the sweat drip down her face as she looked at her palm. Had she really done that? She couldn't think straight with her heart beating in her ears.

She hadn't even managed to consistently use the mark before!

"Son of a bitch," the man said quietly.

"You really do have an Abyssal Seal."" Abyssal … what?" The girl gasped out, frantic after taking so much demonic Qi into her body. She looked herself over and felt her body, but she actually didn't notice anything different! Shouldn't she feel… sick or something?

"Well, well, well," the man said.

"Are you, by any chance… a Fang?" Amber's jaw clenched. She didn't know what to say, her secret identity had been broken just like that! And by this strange man… or was he a demon? Her mind raced at every possibility.

"Thought so. Don't tell me you're the daughter of…" The man closed his eyes.

"Never mind. I don't like to reminisce."

"Did you… know my parents?" Amber blurted out. She didn't trust this guy at all, but his statement had taken her off guard. It was too important to her to just ignore.

"Forget about it. Forget about everything." The man sheathed his sword slowly as he turned around.

"By the way, I don't know what your plans are… but make sure you stay away from Celestial Tiger Mountain, or you'll die. Live quietly if you can." The words cut Amber like a knife. Her mother had told her the very same thing!

"So you really knew—!" Amber shouted.

"Don't bother. Time is up," the man said, nodding his head toward a couple of men in the distance.

"Targets confirmed! Send the signal!" It appeared to be three city guards, sending up a firework that rocketed into the night air and exploded into a marvelous red color. The explosion was bright, even through the thick mist of Blue Cloud City.

"I'll be taking the iron mask. You're lucky I smelt their blood magic before they got to you, or you would already be a puppet. Stay away from whatever kind of shit you've gotten yourself into, and don't let me see you again," the man said as he dissolved into a river of black energy.

"Wait!" Amber reached out towards where the man used to be. Why did it feel familiar the way his Qi felt right before he disappeared? Her mind was spinning with more questions than answers.

"Blue Cloud City Guard! Put your hands up!" The three guards rushed closer.

"The Guard Captain has already been summoned! Cease all resistance!" another one yelled. They encircled the girl quickly with sharp spears.

"W-Wait! My friends should be the ones who called you!" Amber shouted as she stashed her knives and raised her hands high amidst the gleaming sharp spears that were thrust in her face.

"Shut up! We'll make the calls around here!" A guard yelled in her face, spitting everywhere.

"No, I make the calls around here!" A voice boomed through the mist. All heads turned to see the figures walking through the evening mist. It was Mr. Tusk, the asshole judge from the bar, Amber realized. He was surrounded by quite a few men.

"Hmmph! What city guard? I'm the fuckin' Gold Dragon! This is my city!" he yelled at the guards who immediately held their spears a bit lower. Immediately a few of Mr. Tusk's men moved in to rush the suddenly timid guards away as more of them moved in to surround the girl.

"Cabbage girl! What the fuck is this?!" the fat man asked, taking the cigar out of his mouth and kicking a decapitated head across the street.

"What the hell did you do to my men!"

"I didn't do anything!" Amber yelled back. She wasn't great at sensing Qi, but every person Mr. Tusk had brought with him radiated the energy of a cultivator. They were all dressed in robes that had the arms and legs bundled into gauntlets for martial movements, similar to the house fighters she had seen at the Sword & Wine Bar.

"Says the bitch surrounded by my men's bodies!" he yelled furiously, waving his cigar around.

"And where is my fucking mask!"

"That mask was evil! Did Bone Eater even want to wear it?" Amber shouted. The girl was reluctant to say that she knew about the mask, but she knew she just had to make it until the city guard captain showed up. If the guard who had yelled at her could even be believed. It was her only chance at survival.

"Did he wanna wear it?" The round-faced judge laughed out loud, breaking his anger to the girl's surprise.

"Of course not! You're not gonna want to either, but you'll do anything I say after! You were supposed to have it on already, and be a good little thing for me… but it turns out you killed all my fuckin' guys! Who woulda thought?" He laughed maniacally until he clenched his fist and broke his cigar in half.

"Fuck! Another!" he yelled as a fighter quickly came forwards, placing a cigar in his mouth as another fighter lit it. He puffed on it a few times before looking at the girl.

"Anyway, I'm down a prize fighter. One who made me loooootsa coin. I woulda been even richer if I had him build up his reputation for me then take a fall!" He paused to take a pull of his cigar.

"But I have a feeling a little kung fu bitch like you in an iron mask will make me a whole lot more! Hahaha! People will come from all over to see it!"

"So this is all about money?" Amber's eyes lit up in anger as fighters began to spread out.

"You could have stopped eating so much if you needed to save money!"

"Now, now, brat. Don't make me get upset," he growled, furrowing his brow.

"It's bad for my blood pressure. I've been tryna keep that shit down. Now, you're gonna tell me where that mask is, before I think about how much I paid for that shit."

"I… I don't have it!" Amber said. She already knew he wouldn't listen, but what could she do?

"Fine, don't speak! I guess it's good to do it the hard way once in a while! Bahaha!" he bellowed in a deep malevolent tone. The Gold Dragon, Mr. Tusk, snapped his fingers, and two of his fighters in dark clothes lunged forward with frightening speed. The two surged their limbs with deadly precision as they struck towards the girl. Amber twisted, dodged, and barely avoided their strikes. She slashed back with her knife at every turn, but they slipped past each counter slash.

Was this what the Sword & Wine Bar's house fighters were all like? Each was almost as strong as Bone Eater had been! She slipped a devastating hook that would have knocked her out cold, only for the other fighter's sharp kick to send her sliding backwards. She had barely blocked in time, otherwise, the impact might have cracked her rib.

"I was thinking you left the stage too early! Now dance for me some more," Mr. Tusk laughed, puffing on his cigar as he watched his men work. Amber's mind raced as she weaved between strikes that grazed her skin. Where were Ember and Wing? Had they made it to safety? Would anyone actually come to help her? Surely Tusk had seen the guards' firework, but the round man didn't seem worried at all. The first fighter dropped low and swept his leg toward her ankles in a vicious arc.

Amber leapt over the strike, throwing her knife at the man to make him retreat while spinning midair to launch a kick at the second fighter, but he also dodged back to avoid it effortlessly. They pressed in again with relentless teamwork. She flowed through their assault with Predator, her movements sharper and instinctive, while her free hand slipped quietly into her shirt.

"Shit!" One fighter erupted in blood as he stumbled backwards clutching his sliced open hand.

"The bitch has a second knife!" After surviving a few narrow situations in the past, Amber refused to be caught unarmed again. One of her hidden blades now lay in her hand, gleaming red under the soft moonlight.

"My whole life, I've never seen a Cabbage with thorns!" Mr. Tusk bellowed, laughing.

"I know this isn't all you got! Let's see if you can show me what you used to kill all the men I sent." The man snapped his fingers again and more fighters began to step towards the girl. Amber's heart pounded as she gripped her blades. The fighters closed in from all sides. While she wasn't too low on Qi, she was mentally fatigued and facing an encirclement of seasoned fighters.

The girl had a shred of Saint Tiger Qi inside her that she had been cultivating, but it still wouldn't be enough to fight this many veterans. The little tiger cub was asleep inside her shadow, but even if it wasn't, what would change? Amber felt a hot drop of sweat run down her face that cut through the cold misty air. She didn't know how much longer she could last.