Xuelei, Tears of Blood

Chapter 7 - MeiHua Part 1

Xuelei had a secret.

He had broken a Rule.

He had a friend, not intentionally of course. She just popped into his life.

Since befriending MeiHua, he would stop by this stream hoping to see her. Sometimes he would meet her, sometimes not. When he did, they would sit and talk for hours, well she did, he listened.

Xuelei would let the sound of her voice soothe him and make him forget the tension and stress. She would tell him about herself, her grandpa, things which currently interest her and stories of the world around them. He would occasionally ask her questions. With her, he could just be himself.

It happened one of those days when he had come to this very river after a mission, much like this day. He had been meditating and calming himself after a particularly stressful mission. He couldn't believe that he had almost been caught. He had not been careless, the Sect had underestimated the target's skill and resourcefulness. Only dumb luck had saved him.

Suddenly he had heard a scream, followed by a girl's terrified sobbing. Xuelei went upstream to investigate. He found a young girl huddled on the ground clutching a woven basket. It's contents had spilled onto the ground but she took no notice of the fallen herbs and plants. When she saw him, she yelled at him to stop.

"Oh! Don't come any closer. It will get you too."

She pointed to a large snake. It was hissing at her. It's head was held high, forked tongue tasting the air as it slithered nearer to investigate the girl. It was really agitated. She must have accidentally disturbed it.

"I-Its going to eat me!" she sobbed.

"Move back slowly. Don't make any sudden movements," Xuelei said in a low voice.

"I can't. I ran when I first saw it near those bushes and tripped. My ankle ... it hurts. I must have twisted it."

Xuelei moved nearer slowly. "Okay, don't move. I got this."

The snake hissed in warning at the newcomer feeling threatened. Just as it raised its head to strike, Xuelei flung a long dagger at it. The snake fell with an angry hiss as the blade sank in between its eyes. The girl squeezed her eyes shut and screamed in terror.

The large snake trashed violently on the ground, its coils churning up the dirt and making horrible slithering sounds. Its long body entwined upon itself, sweeping up leaves and twigs in its death throes. Finally it stilled, dead.

Xuelei tried to reassure her. "Hey, it's okay. The snake is dead. See?"

She opened her eyes and her mouth fell open. "Wow, you killed it."

"Kill or be killed," he muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

He went to the girl to help her up but she couldn't stand. Her twisted ankle was tender and swollen. Her tears of fright turned to tears of pain. She couldn't put any weight on her ankle. Making a quick decision, Xuelei gathered her fallen herbs and placed them back into her basket. He pushed the basket into her arms. Then without ceremony, he lifted her bodily as she yelped and clutched at him in surprise.

"Where do you live?" he asked. "I'll carry you back home."

"I live behind this mountain. I come over this side to gather the seeds and plants that grow here." She looked at him tearfully.

"Hmm, too far. You can recover at my place. We can't stay out here in the open."

He had carried her to the mouth of the main cave but did not reveal his secret hideaway above the ledge. No one was to be trusted. He got a small fire going, to keep them warm.