Book 2 Chapter 82

Li Wanyu stared at Willow uncomprehendingly for several moments before a jolt of recognition shot through his core along with not a small amount of fear.

“Please tell me you aren’t who I think you are.”

Willow tilted his head in confusion. “That depends on who you think I am?”

Li Wanyu rubbed his face tiredly. “The girl I met in the woods all those years ago.”

He wanted to correct him on his current girl status, but felt that now wasn’t the time. “That’s me. Is there a reason you’re so afraid right now?”

Willow knew that people typically didn’t like it when he pointed out their emotions like that, but Li Wanyu felt frantic enough that there was a chance that the matter might be urgent.

The young man sighed. “It’s that obvious, is it?”

He hesitated, considering his words carefully before he continued. “There are people from my clan after me, and their end purpose is to find you, or, more accurately, the spirits you have in your possession.”

Li Wanyu briefly grew hopeful as an idea occurred to him. “Unless you broke your binding with them some time ago?”

Willow froze. He knew? The boy was certain that he’d hidden the fact he’d bound Li Wanyu’s quarry from him all those years ago. His memories of the time were hazy, due to both time and the pain he was in, but surely he hadn’t let anything slip.

Had he?

His stomach dropped at the possibility that he might’ve said something he shouldn’t have in his delirious state.

Li Wanyu sighed and his fear redoubled. “From your silence I assume they’re still with you then. Perfect.”

A touch of anger briefly flashed through his core before he crushed it down. His spirit placed an icy hand on his head, attempting to comfort him in his distress.

Meanwhile, Willow was feeling increasingly guilty. It was clear that Li Wanyu had not been having a happy time since he had last seen him. Neither had Willow really, but he’d at least had his family and people looking after him.

Li Wanyu didn’t have either it seemed. In fact it was his family that was causing him distress.

And Willow was at least partly to blame.

He had to try and fix this.

“Can we fight off the people chasing you? I’ve gotten a lot stronger since you last saw me, I can help.”

Li Wanyu gave him a nonplussed look. “If you place yourself in the path of my family, the best case scenario is that you wind up their captive. I don’t need to spell out the alternative outcomes, I hope?”

Willow winced. “Your family is technically already aware of me. Although they probably don’t know I have the spirits they’re looking for.”

Li Wanyu buried his face in his hands, and a muffled voice asked him to elaborate.

“Well… through a series of events that would probably take too long to explain, I wound up fighting your sister in an exhibition match. The fight was probably a lot closer than they wanted and I made use of a technique that might have tipped off your sister that I have a powerful yin spirit? That’s why I’m out in the mountains right now.”

Li Wanyu kept his face buried as he processed what he heard, before eventually raising his head again.

“That means you at least have some of your family nearby, right? I’d feel a lot safer with senior Rowan at my back than I would you, no offense.”

He wanted to take offense at that, but Li Wanyu was probably right that his father could do better against human opponents than he could right now.

Willow also really didn’t want to rope his grandmother into this if he could help it. Grandma Thea was in hiding due to her own problems, she didn’t need Willow dragging more trouble to her doorstep.

Even if that was probably the smarter thing to do.

“I’m effectively by myself right now, my teacher had to escort someone to her sect, so I’m staying with my grandmother out here.”

Li Wanyu looked unconvinced. “Anyone who lives out in the mountains is almost definitely capable of fending for themself. I’m not saying we should drag her into my conflict, but don’t try to undersell your grandmother’s capabilities to me.”

That’s… fair.

“She has her reasons for being out in the wilderness by herself. I don’t want to make her life more difficult than it already is.”

He nodded, more accepting of that answer, even if he was unhappy with it. “You should leave me be, and I’ll try to head away from you as fast as I can.” Li Wanyu let out a sigh. “I don’t want everything I went through to be in vain just because Fate decided to have a laugh at your expense.”

Willow was going to try and argue more, but something at the edge of his senses decided the matter for the both of them.

Two figures moving at high speed towards their current location. He severely doubted that was a coincidence.

Willow winced. “Too late, they’re already here. What spirits do they have so I can prepare a counter?”

The urgency in his voice seemed to convince Li Wanyu of his certainty.

“I still think you should hide as best you can, but one has a spirit of bloodlines and a spirit of poison. The other has a decently strong emotion spirit, specifically one that governs fear.”

That wasn’t good. According to Miss Mu, emotion spirits could be quite frustrating to deal with if they manage to get their hooks in you, and the other two weren’t much better considering the fact Willow didn’t have any healing techniques.

Yet still he brought out all of his friends sans Change and Harmony, thinking through his skill set. He was most familiar with using metal in a fight, but without his shield he was less certain it was the right call, even if Xandra could still help keep them all safe. Phoebe could be a good distraction or even help immobilize the two, but they’d likely only be able to do sporadic attacks as it took time to build up the required momentum. Andrea could help in keeping them harassed and distracted, they’d gotten better at using vines and roots, and had even started making use of a pollen that left him sleepy whenever he inhaled it, though he was unsure if there would be time to use it.

Calypso… would probably be put back in their space for this fight. They were a great friend, but they would likely be distracted in the heat of battle and he didn’t want to put them in danger just yet. He’d keep working with them so that they could be better, but it was unwise to bring them out here and now.

Which left Eos. His candleflame spirit was probably his best shot at getting out of this unharmed.

He’d adapted some of the metal techniques he’d learned to work with fire, and he was somewhat confident in not hurting himself or Li Wanyu. Eos themself were eager to prove themself, wanting to experience a moment like in the story that had birthed them.

And Willow wanted to give them that moment.

He gave all of his friends a hug through their shared bonds, sending Calypso back to their space and giving the rest directions on what they should be trying to do.

He was afraid of what was about to happen, but the flame at his side shared some of their courage, and it helped fight back the darkness of his fear.

Li Wanyu watched him prepare with complete and utter bafflement. Likely having many questions, but knowing he lacked the time to ask them.

“You can still hide, you know? I won’t begrudge you that, this isn’t your fight.”

Willow shook his head. “This happened to you because of me. I’m helping.”

The two of them took martial stances as the Li clan sisters entered the hastily prepared field of battle.