Chapter 10: Mixed energy

She was already awake when the rain thinned to a drip off the shelter roof.

Qingxue had not slept much , every time she closed her eyes she heard her own voice, saying his name . And then his voice answering that he had heard....

The ache between her legs had faded to a dull embarrassed heat . She kept her back to him and her eyes on the grey light outside, until she heard him sit up.

"Qingxue.. "

"Hurry we should go..." she said quickly without turning.

"Or we can talk about last night too ."Tian chuckled, and thought , I really want to see her embarrassed!

She stood , folded the spare robe , tied the bag shut with more care than it needed . Her ears were hot. She could feel him admiring her body , she did not give him the chance to say more .

They left the shelter while the path was still wet. The dual feeling in the air sat between them thicker than usual , marked by what her body had done in the dark . She put three steps of space on the road and , kept them there.

For a long stretch neither of them spoke ...

The fields on either side were empty . A crow lifted off a fence post and vanished into the trees .

Nice, my hand has improved enough that I can close it without wincing

The dual core turned with every step, still tasting the richer Yin she had leaked the night before. He did not mention it tough , also he did not mention her fingers or his name in her mouth . He only matched her pace and watched the road ahead .

She tripped once on a wet root.... then caught herself without his help .

" are you okay ? " She shook her head and kept walking as the space between them felt louder.

Around mid-morning she finally said , "If you tell anyone..." another silence, like she understood that he won’t. "I thought you were asleep. I didn’t mean to do something like that, it just..just happened.."

"I wasn’t.... it didn’t mean...." She stopped , started again . "People do things , when they can’t sleep . It doesn’t have to mean anything." " ugg.....what am I saying, why am I even explaining myself!’"

"but you know, It meant something to me , somthing really very important "

She glanced at him once, then quickly looked away. The pink in her ears had spread to her neck. "You’re not allowed to say things like that while we’re on a public road."

"I want you to say my name again ".

"...." Her already pink ears turned pink again ., words didn’t come out ,after sometime the soft voice finally come , "There might not be a later , if you keep talking !"

His lips curled upwards , She saw it and scowled at the path .

phew...I should let the subject drop before she decided to put five steps of space between us , instead of three.

The dual core pulsed once , she could pretend last night was nothing . Her body had already given the truth away when she said his name .

They walked until the sun was higher . The road bent around a low hill . Trees closed in on both sides for a stretch , wet leaves dripping on the path .

Su Qingxue adjusted the bag on her shoulder and started to say something about the next town before she finished...

Two men stepped out of the trees ahead. Travel-stained robes , the same ones from under the inn sign. One of them held a short blade loose at his side . The other had empty hands and a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"Lin Tian," the empty-handed one said. " and the girl we’ve been looking for you."

Su Qingxue’s fingers tightened on the bag strap .’

Are they bandits ?’ it’ll be a pain in the neck’ "who are you, identity yourself , we don’t know you."she pointed a finger .

"You don’t need to know about us .." The man with the blade looked her over once ,

"..A sick boy , sick from a rare disease , he gets well , even after becoming unconscious?, just with some basic medicine? He’s recovery rate is unbelievable , and a girl who stays in his bed. "

The empty handed man said this time , " Yin and Yang hanging off both of you like smoke."our talisman has burned around you, and burning talisman is exactly the kind of news our employer is searching! "

Lin Tian understood something...

burning talisman...yin yang ...are they talking about the taboo Chaos dual core? ....no ,it’s not like that ..it’s undetectable..I know only because I have it..also at most they will think that it’s a ’mixed root body , which is rare .

"The orders are to bring the boy in , the girl is optional ." The smile widened a fraction. "Though she might be useful , pure Yin like that doesn’t show up every day ."

Su Qingxue’s face went pale ,"Try it then ,"

I’ll have to protect him .. I’ve trained, I can handle two somehow ...but if they attract Tian-ge.. !

The man with the blade moved first.

Lin Tian was still not at full strength , he met the first cut with his forearm and the edge scraped cloth and skin .

Pain lit up his arm , he drove his other shoulder into the man’s chest and sent him back a step into the mud .

The dual core flared... gold , violet under his skin for a second , the empty-handed man narrowed his eyes .

"There!!! that’s it the mixed light . That’s what the boss paid us to find , it’s indeed the boy not the girl..! "

Su Qingxue had already dropped the bag. She grabbed a thick fallen branch from the roadside and swung it at the second man’s head when he reached for her .

He caught it on his arm and swore . She did not run , she hit him again ,bought Lin Tian a breath ..

The man with the blade came back faster .

He hit Lin with the back of his blade ..

Thakk.....

Lin Tian took a hit to the ribs that emptied his lungs and still managed to hook the man’s ankle, and put him down in the wet leaves.

Thud... The man with blade , fall on the ground .

The dual core poured thin energy into his limbs still not enough but better than nothing .

"Qingxue ...run."

The empty-handed man got past her branch and caught her wrist .

She twisted , kicked his knee and almost broke free .

He hit her open palm once, across the face ,

Thapp....

It landed hard enough to snap her head to the side . She staggered the bag of rice spilled across the path .

Lin Tian’s vision went narrow , the dual core surged something hungrier , he hit the empty-handed man in the side of the neck, with everything he had left .

"Aaaah !... "

The man dropped to one knee , already chocking .

The blade man was getting up , Lin Tian turned , took another cut on the same arm . And drove his knee into the man’s face .

Clachhh..

Cartilage crunched as blood spilled on the leaves . Both men were down they weren’t dead, but not getting up fast anymore.

Tsk...Thats it ?.... That all? even ordinary disciple are better then this shit..Though I’m glad they’re mere thugs.

Lin Tian’s arm was bleeding , his ribs screamed when he breathed . He crossed to Su Qingxue . She was on one knee, hand on her cheek , eyes wet with pain and...a little angry.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes." He pulled her up , she grabbed what she could of the spilled rice and the bag. They left the two men in the mud and did not look back.

The dual core was still spinning hard , feeding on the spike of her fear and his own Yang, and for a moment the air around them shimmered with mixed light before it faded .

---

They did not stop until the trees thinned and the road opened onto wider fields.

Lin Tian’s arm would not stop bleeding . Su Qingxue made him sit under a tree and tore a strip from the spare robe.

Her hands shook while she bound the cut . The dual feeling between them was wild now . Pulled tight by the fight and the closeness and the leftover heat from the night before .

"You’re an idiot.. literally an idiot.....! " she said with a rough voice , probably because of tiredness.."You should have run .... idiot."

"It just is you’re the one with the " mixed root" or whatever is wrong with your energy. You’re the one they want , I’m just the petty , innocent girl who got in the way... ."

As expected she knows about mixed root bodies but I don’t have mixed root ."You’re not just anything Qingxue.."

"Stop" He watched the top of her head . The mark on her cheek was already darkening. , without thinking he lifted his good hand . Brushed his thumb near the edge of it , not quite touching the bruise.

The dual core surged at the contact , drinking a thin spike of her Yin mixed with leftover fear.

She finished the bandage and sat back on her heels, her eyes were wet but she was not crying.,

"And don’t ever tell me to run while you stay behind , I didn’t stay in that village and walk out of it with you just to watch you die on a road for me ... idiot."

For a second their eyes met. The thing that had almost happened in the shelter : her fingers, his name, the offer he had made , sat between them unspoken .

"We need to reach a town before dark . You need real medicine. We need to be around other people so those two think twice about following ."

She started walking and he followed . The dual core turned but the thread between them had thickened again, fear and care and the unfinished heat from the shelter all braided together.

Behind them , back in the trees, one of the men sat up . Wiped blood from his mouth . He looked at the empty road and then at his companion .

"Send word , they are strong ! ," he muttered , "We found the mixed energy the owner wanted .

The other man spat red into the leaves and reached for a small transmission talisman in his sleeve .

Ahem brother just accept, that we are Weak..

"Boss will know what it means huh , , we just get paid that’s all ."

Far ahead , past the next town and the selection grounds , someone who actually understood dual physiques and mixed root would hear that message.