The four fighters collided again.
Sun Yunso's blade met Huo Shuzoh's flaming fist while Lokei's staff came down on Shenin's legs but he jumped over the staff.
Lokei immediately drew it up and came at Shenin's ribs, but the young man twisted his body out the way and the staff went under him. He landed on the broken stones and immediately charged at Sun Yunso.
Sun Yunso sensed him, drawing his sword out of the guard of Shuzoh and turning. Gun Shenin's fist hit the flat of Yunso's blade, forcing him back Shuzoh was right there, a flaming kick snapping at Yunso's chest but Sun Yunso ducked and Shuzoh's leg went over his head.
He turned and sent his blade slicing at Shuzoh's back, but Huo Shuzoh twisted and his flaming forearm knocked the sword aside. Lokei came in on the other side, his staff coming up at Shuzoh's ribs.
Huo Shuzoh jumped back.
Lokei drew the staff up and sent it into Shenin, but Gun Shenin caught it in both hands and sent the older man sliding across the courtyard.
Lokei was right there, coming back at him.
Gun Shenin planted a hand against the stones and flipped back as Lokei's staff came down where his head had been. He landed and Sun Yunso was already behind him, a horizontal slash coming across his back. Gun Shenin ducked and the blade went over his head.
He drove a fist into Yunso's gut, but the older man sidestepped and Huo Shuzoh's flaming fist came at Shenin's temple from the other side. Gun Shenin twisted between the two men, Sun Yunso and Huo Shuzoh's attacks nearly colliding as they both pulled back. Lokei was right there, driving in at Shenin, and Gun Shenin turned to meet him while Sun Yunso faced off against Shuzoh. It was almost as before, the two pairs facing each other, but it didn't last. Lokei's staff came down on the stones and Huo Shuzoh's flames flared across the courtyard.
Sun Yunso jumped over the fire and Gun Shenin burst through it, the two men colliding in midair. They both shot out from each other, Sun Yunso landing on the roof of the ruined greenhouse while Gun Shenin crashed into a stone wall.
Lokei went after Sun Yunso and Huo Shuzoh went after Shenin.
Lokei's staff came down on Sun Yunso's back, but the older man blocked it, and right here Huo Shuzoh's fist came at Gun Shenin's ribs. Shenin ducked and Lokei suddenly changed direction, his staff coming up at Huo Shuzoh's chest.
Huo Shuzoh turned and blocked, and right here Sun Yunso's blade came at Lokei's ribs. Lokei ducked and Gun Shenin came up behind Yunso, a fist driving into his back. Sun Yunso turned and his blade caught Shenin's fist.
The four men stood off from each other, and for a moment there was silence, the courtyard was almost unrecognizable, the beautiful garden in ruins, the stones broken up in some places, and the flames from Huo Shuzoh's attack still burning spots.
The wedding grounds had turned to a battlefield, and the four men stood in the center of it. Sun Yunso's sword met Lokei's staff, while Huo Shuzoh's fist collided with Gun Shenin's. They all shot away from each other, and it was Lokei who landed first.
He turned and charged at Huo Shuzoh, but the older man turned to meet him, and just as they were about to collide Sun Yunso's blade came between them. Huo Shuzoh jumped back and Lokei ducked under Yunso's sword. Gun Shenin came right at Yunso, but the older man turned and Lokei's staff came down at Shenin's side.
Gun Shenin was sent into Huo Shuzoh, but the older man caught himself on his knees and bounced off of Shuzoh's shoulder and they both turned and charged at each other again.
The battle had broken down, no longer sides, no longer teams, no longer friends or foes, it was every man for himself, and every move opened up new possibilities, new attacks, new ways to strike and to be struck.
Four warriors, four different styles, completely different approaches to battle, all clashing together in a desperate fight.
Shenin lunged forward, his fist tore through the air, aimed directly at Yunso.
Sun Yunso moved his head to the side, and the punch went wide. Shenin's fist came down, his knuckles rapped against the stone floor sending shockwaves through the courtyard, cracks rippling out from under his fist. The stone floor gave way, and all four combatants fell to the ground, but none seemed particularly concerned
Sun Yunso kept his composure as he stood, keeping his sword at his side. Lokei kept his staff in his hands as he stood as well. Shuzoh kept his stance, his fists wreathed in fire, and Shenin kept standing as well, falling with them all, a large grin plastered across his face.
The four martial artists tumbled through the hole in the floor, broken stone and dust filling their lungs. No one attacked or moved, just stared at each other during the fall.
They landed with a heavy thud and were instantly greeted by a thick white mist.
Sun Yunso turned his head, Lokei slowly lowered his staff, and Huo Shuzoh's flames hissed against the damp air. They were all surprised to find themselves in this location, having fallen through the floor, and none of them could quite place why. They had fallen into another part of the Guo Estate.
Numerous stone pools were scattered across this particular wing, with wooden bridges and railings connecting them all. It was a hot spring.
Shenin took in the sights and sounds before relaxing. For a few tense moments, he was completely silent and completely still, before a large grin stretched across his face. He tossed his head back and let out a loud laugh that reverberated off the walls of the steamed hot spring.
The other three warriors just stared at him
Sun Yunso's brows furrowed to a frown, Lokei turned around in confusion, and Shuzoh just wore an impassive mask of shock. Gun Shenin kept on laughing, and with that, the four warriors had travelled from the wedding courtyard to the hot spring district of the Guo Estate, apparently the fight was far from over and for several seconds, nobody moved.
Steam rolled from the hot spring, circling the four figures standing amidst the broken rock. Sun Yunso slowly glanced down at the water and then up at the ruined ceiling, then back at the others.
Lokei Yoshe did the same.
Huo Shuzoh was still watching his opponent's, Gun Shenin as expected was still laughing.
It was getting very awkward.
Lokei Yoshe eventually let his staff down slightly and turned his gaze around.
The hot springs were, indeed, a part of Guo's estate. Flower beds surrounded it, wooden fences decorated it, and several flower arrangements floated on the waters, or at least they did before the ceiling came crashing down on them.
Lokei Yoshe's eyes drifted towards Huo Shuzoh, then to Gun Shenin, and then back at the large hole in the ceiling.
Huo Shuzoh looked at the debris, his left eye twitching. Suddenly, Gun Shenin stopped laughing and fixed his gaze on the three men.
A grin crawled back on his face, the others immediately taking note of it.
Sun Yunso's hand tightened around his sword, Yoshe shifted his grip on his staff, and Shuzoh's flames began to dance around his fists.
Gun Shenin's shoulders slumped and he adjusted his stance.
The calm if short ceased and as it ended all four of the men immediately moved and just like that the four fighters clashed again.
Sun Yunso's blade flashed through the mist, Shuzoh's flaming fist meeting it. Yoshe's staff swept out and sent the two men back. Shenin of course immediately took advantage of their opening and charged forward with a punch.
Sun Yunso easily sidestepped and then moved to the side, to dodge the punch meant for him, but he failed to notice that it went into the rock wall.
As all four of the men stopped, their distance from each other was great. They all separated at the same time, each standing a good distance away from the other. Shenin shrugged his shoulders as he gazed at the others.
"This is getting way too long, you guys don't think so?" He asked
The three others exchanged looks before looking at Shenin. Sun Yunso lowered his sword slightly, Lokei Yoshe exhaled and Shuzoh's flames danced around his fists.
Nobody countered his statement and this made Gun Shenin's grin grow.
"Good, then let's finish those four-way duels, huh, boys?"
Sun Yunso raised his sword.
"Sure, why not."
Lokei Yoshe gave a rotation to his staff.
"I'm alright with that."
Shuzoh's flame grew more intense.
"Fine."
The atmosphere suddenly changed as Sun Yunso crouched slightly and tightened his grip on his weapon.
"Moliu...Silent Current."
The steam around him seemed to halt suddenly. Across from him, Lokei Yoshe rotated his staff.
"End Strike."
Shuzoh raised both of his fists, golden-orange flames dancing around his arms.
"Heavenly Flame Arts...Form Second: SunForge!"
Gun Shenin made no sound at all.
He just lowered himself into a fighting stance, his fists tightening, his grin still kept in place.
The four of them stood facing each other, an intense silence filling the air, only the sound of the running waters of the hot springs filling it, until they all launched forward. They all collided at the center of the hot spring and for one brief instant, everything became a blur, Lokei's staff shot forward in an End Strike, the tip slicing through the hot spring's mist,Sun Yunso twisted away but the force of the blow sent his right arm wide open, at the same time, Sun Yunso did not stop, his sword came up in a desperate slash that found its mark across Shenin's chest, but the latter barely had time to recover before Shuzoh came at him with a blast of golden-orange flame from both hands.
The force of the attack sent both Shenin and Lokei flying over the hot spring area, then Shuzoh emerged from the mist, his breath coming in heavy sighs,his clothes scorched and the flames were still dancing at the ends of his fingers.
He surveyed the battlefield.
Sun Yunso was down on one knee, clutching his wounded arm, while Lokei was some distance behind him, his clothes in ruins from the heat. Shenin was sprawled against the far wall, a deep gash on his chest, his clothes scorched as well. Shuzoh was the only one still on his feet.
He looked at the fallen men, his chest rising and falling heavily, then his lips peeled back in a fierce grin.
"I won," said Shuzoh's voice, reverberating in the ruined hot spring.
Shuzoh raised both his fists in the air.
"YEAH!!!" His yell practically ripped the steam from the walls.
Huo Shuzoh stood triumphantly, the flames from his fists slowly died away as he looked at the three unconscious fighters across the battlefield. For a moment, he just stared at them. Despite the outcome of the battle, Shuzoh knew that this fight was something special.
It was a battle that he knew he would remember for the rest of his life, it was the best fight he had in his countless years of training and battling.
Huo Shuzoh raised a single finger and a tiny flame appeared above his fingertip. The tiny flame grew bigger and bigger until it became a large ball of fire the size of a miniature sun. The golden-orange light from the ball of fire illuminated the entire hot spring. Huo Shuzoh looked at the three unconscious fighters. He raised his hand to dismiss the miniature sun but stopped when a voice echoed from behind him.
"Spider.”
Huo Shuzoh's eyes widened and his body stiffened.
The miniature sun above his fingertip didn't move an inch. His body tried to move but it refused to obey his orders. His fingers wouldn't budge and neither did his legs and neck.
"What... ?"
Two figures walked into the hot spring, their footsteps echoing off the walls. Huo Shuzoh's eyes locked on the newcomers.
Chu Runar and Sa Wayong, the latter was still holding Chu Runar. The two stopped dead on their tracks upon seeing the battlefield.
Chu Runar whistled at the sight before him while Sa Wayong's eyes widened.
"What the hell happened here?"
Shuzoh couldn't answer because his body refused to listen to his commands. Chu Runar looked at Shuzoh then at the three unconscious fighters.
A smile appeared on Chu Runar's face.
"Looks like we arrived on time.”
Chu Runar and Sa Wayong slowly walked towards the four men, their footsteps echoing through the ruined hot spring. Sa Wayong kept near to Chu Runar, her eyes flickering nervously around the ruin. Her eyes finally landed on Lokei Yoshe and Sun Yunso.
She immediately noticed that they were both injured. Sun Yunso's right arm was gone, Lokei's clothes burned in more than a few places and not including his own flesh was also burned as well.
Sa Wayong lowered her gaze.
"...They're hurt pretty badly."
Her voice was quiet.
She hesitated before walking closer to them.
"I-I hope they'll be alright..."
Chu Runar continued forward, his gaze flickering over the four fighters.
Something was off.
"Kind of strange how we made a reunion with Sun Yunso and Lokei but we are still missing one."
'Where did Naizen run off to?'
His face was calm, though the question stayed with him.
‘Did he escape? Or did he die?’
Sa Wayong noticed his sudden silence, she looked up at him hesitantly.
"C-Chu Runar...?"
He glanced up at her.
"We're missing someone."
Sa Wayong's eyes widened a little.
"Naizen?"
Chu Runar nodded.
"He's not here."
She looked around nervously.
"Maybe...he got away?"
Chu Runar stared towards the entrance.
"Maybe, but after seeing this...I'm not willing to assume that yet."
Sa Wayong was stunned by Chu Runar's sudden theory and the thought that one of the only friends she had recently made dying didn't quite sit well with her. They of course did not have that many interactions with each other, it was only a slight eye contact from the conversation that she started.
Though her issue was solved by Sun Yunso, she still made a few friends. Those being; Lokei Yoshe, Sun Yunso Chu Runar and Naizen himself.
Now it didn't matter as they were clueless about his whereabouts, she had to move on because two of her friends were right in front of her on the floor and badly injured because of the fight that they were involved in. She had to save them but the question was how–how was she going to do such a thing. What they currently need right now was a healer, but there was no healer in sight. And judging from the disappearance of the Huo and Guo families, help was not addressed.
Chu Runar saw the dismay on Sa Wayong's face, he gently put his hand across her shoulder. This stunned Sa Wayong a bit.
"You're really stressed out aren't you, don't do that as it will disrupt your beauty. Let's help our friends, okay?" He said with a charming smile on his face.
Sa Wayong just blinked for a second before a slight blush came after, but she still nodded.
They started to slowly approach Sun Yunso and Lokei Yoshe's injured bodies. Chu Runar checked their conditions, Lokei was just some slight burns on the skin and clothes. All he needed was to get some healing, then he would be fine, but the worst was Sun Yunso. His right arm was severed and not to mention he was leaking out a ton of blood, even if he was clutching with his left arm it still wasn't enough.
Chu Runar went closer to Sun Yunso and put his two finger his his severed right arm and with a deep breath he muttered:
"Silkworm."
Tiny threads started to cover the wound and the bleeding stopped.
"That should stop the bleeding for a while, but he still needs some healing. What can we do, this is bad."
Chu Runar started to look around the hotspring for some reason trying to find something.
What that something could be no one had an idea.
While Chu Runar was still looking around, multiple footsteps came running from the hallway that led to the hotspring. Anyu Feng and other members of the support team ran in, they were immediately greeted by the sight of the injured fighters on the ground and also Chu Runar holding his chest. Without wasting a second Anyu Feng ordered his support team to treat the injured immediately.
He went to Sun Yunso's side and saw that he was missing an entire arm, this stressed him the most. Remembering all the warnings he gave to Sun Yunso about pursuing revenge and the consequences of it and from Sun Yunso's injury alone— it was obvious.
Anyu Feng shook his head and started to heal Sun Yunso, he had to get all the negative thoughts away from him and focus entirely on Sun Yunso. He had to help Sun Yunso otherwise, he would feel like a failure to his old friend who had passed on, the feeling of disappointment from Su Qing.
What an awful and tearful feeling.
The other support team was busy treating Gun Shenin, Chu Runar, Sa Wayong who denied because she was fine and Lokei Yoshe helping them with the best they could. Huo Shuzoh was still unable to move thanks to Chu Runar's "Spider".
One of the men from the support requested for Huo Shuzoh to be released as it was obvious that he couldn't move because of a Seijinist. Chu Runar had no choice and made Huo Shuzoh able to move again. Huo Shuzoh still had the ball of sun on his finger and wanted to release it on his enemies but he cancelled it and let the man who wanted to help him begin his treatment.
Everything was going well, Anyu Feng needed to take everyone to the nearest medical center. Even if they were all healed, necessary tests were needed in case they accidentally missed some other parts of the body that were badly damaged. The support team had no problem with it, Chu Runar and Sa Wayong were also okay with it. Lokei Yoshe with only one eye still open agreed before going unconscious.
"Alright. Get everyone out of here. We're going to the nearest medical center."
"Yes, sir."
The support team immediately began moving. And with that, the ruined hot springs finally fell silent.
….
Sun Yunso's eyes suddenly opened for several seconds, he looked at the ceiling above him. Everything was strange, he had never seen this kind of room before. His view slowly shifted from one side to the other
"Where am I?"
Sun Yunso sat up, his head felt heavy, but there was no pain
It was weird
The last moment of the battle flashed before his eyes, the final attack that decided the outcome of the battle. Sun Yuso looked down and saw the white sheets of the medical bay. He tried to get up off the bed where he was lying, but something was wrong. His right arm was whole, but how was that possible? He removed the sheets with his right hand, but how did he have a right hand?
Sun Yunso looked at it, and slowly moved his fingers and to his surprise they all worked. He clenched his right hand into a fist, and just like because everything worked. He touched his right forearm with his left hand as if testing if it was real
"Impossible"
He recalled the incident in detail
The attack from Lokei, the pain, and the separation of his right arm. There was no doubt about that, but then how did he get his right arm back? It was as if nothing had happened to it. Sun Yunso slowly moved his legs over the edge of the bed and looked at his right hand again, then at the surroundings.
"How?"
There was no answer, and his expression became serious. There was only one possible explanation, but that was impossible
"Someone healed me"
But that was unlikely, such injuries could not be healed in a short time. Sun Yunso clenched his right hand again, but something was wrong. It was hard to describe, but it was as if something else had happened to his right arm while he was unconscious.
Anyu Feng's voice suddenly came from the other side of the room.
"Why are you so…investigative?"
Sun Yunso's vision fell onto the window where Anyu Feng stood leaning against the glass, arms folded across his chest letting the sunlight consume his face.
Sun Yunso followed his gaze and gave a small nod.
"Uncle Anyu. It's been a while."
Anyu smiled lightly.
"Indeed it has been a while."
"Have we not seen each other in ten days or twenty?" asked Sun Yunso "you must have kept count right?"
"Yea I did, well at least I think I did." replied Anyu Feng as he turned away from the window. "However that does not matter at all because look what happens when I stop counting."
Sun Yunso remained silent, his face downturned. Anyu Feng's face was serious. He did not dare utter a word and continued to keep his sight downward. Anyu Feng sighed then made his way to where Sun Yunso was and gave him a small pat on his head.
Sun Yunso was surprised by this, he gave Anyu Feng a questioning look who had smiled lightly.
"Mistakes are inevitable. Some are small enough to be consumed by time itself while some leave a scar that will forever remind you of its existence. But a mistake ....is a mistake, besides the cold truth is simple. You cannot change the past. You can only determine what the past turns you into. "
Sun Yunso just stared unblinking at him with those colorless eyes of his.
"I'm glad you're still alive, Yunso."
Those words alone changed Yunso for just a bit, with a smile he nodded and they both shared a laughter.
….
After the heartwarming moment passed, Sun Yunso was still on the case of his right arm. He looked at Anyu Feng because he needed answers.
"Hey, Uncle Anyu?"
"Oh, what is it? Something wrong?"
"Um, no it's not that. It's just…theres something I have to know at least."
"And what may that be?"
"My right arm, when I was involved in that four way deadlock, I remember seeing my arm get blasted off by something. I think it might have been Lokei's fault since he was next to me. Right now… I'm actually staring at the supposed blasted off right arm. So my question is, who healed me?"
Anyu Feng went silent for a moment but then suddenly acted a little confident, the kind of attitude that Sun Yunso didn't know he had in the first place.
"Oh, you actually want to know huh. If that's the case then i—"
"I know that you're not on that level, which is understandable since you can only heal sicknesses and minor injuries like what you did with my eyes eight years ago. Even if I can't fully see, can you tell me who did the incredible healing? I want to thank them truly."
Sun Yunso still had his gaze on Anyu Feng but there was something wrong with him, it looked like all of his pride and confidence had just faded away and a stone of disappointment was shown. This made Sun Yunso confused for a moment but after checking his arm and Anyu Feng he immediately understood.
"Oh, wait I'm so sorry I didn't know! Please forgive me Uncle Anyu, I actually had no clue!"
Anyu Feng let out a small chuckle.
"I'd be lying if I said that your statement didn't hurt, it almost felt like it stabbed me in the heart…especially with the way you said it. But it's okay, like you just said right now you had no clue. I'll let it slide for now but yes as you might have already guessed it I'm the one who healed your arm."
Sun Yunso's eyes widened, even if he had just figured it out by accident the shock still got to him. Who exactly is Anyu Feng and where is he currently on as a Seijinist?