216 Internal Battle (2/2)

”Haaaahh!”

The force and strength of her strike caused the entire dummy to collapse. A loud collision echoed within the silent training grounds, the sound echoing throughout the quiet early morning. After a few seconds, there was silence. Only the sound of heavy breathing was perceived.

Rin could feel her bangs sticking to her perspired face, hands trembling as she still grasped the sword in her hands. Sweat trickled down her face into her eyes. They stung. Her heart stung. Licking her salty lips, Rin finally looks up to see the dummy covered in deep cuts fallen on the floor.

All those deep scars. She created.

Raising her hand to wipe the drops of sweat falling down her forehead, Rin looked up at the large window revealing the dark morning sky.

There was still time to wash before everyone woke up.

After cleaning everything within the training room, Rin went to the nearby lake to wash. Ever since she came to the Tongshu province, she had bathed in the lake to avoid being seen by the other soldiers. Washing in the baths was too risky.

Rin undressed, her snowy white skin exposed to the cool morning air. Goosebumps rose on her arms. Trembling slightly, she slipped quickly into the lake. The cool water wrapped her in comfort, and she relaxed as she soaked. Rin let out a comfortable sigh of relief, and strength was slowly returning to her limbs. Cupping water into her palms, she splashed it against her sweaty face.

Drops of water hung delicately from her lashes when she opened her eyes to see her reflection within the water. A sixteen-year-old girl stared back. Rin wasn't an unmatched beauty by any means, but she looked lovely due to her rosy cheeks and bright eyes. Despite that, all Rin saw staring back at her was a stranger.

Was this…her?

Her eyes landed on her hair, which although has grown over the last few months, was no longer than the tip of her ears. She touched it absently with a jaded expression.

Pursing her lips, Rin smacked the shimmering reflection and sank herself into the water. All sounds from the outside world muted. All thoughts gathering in her head murky. She no longer wanted to think of anything else. She just wanted to sink.

A good while later, Rin finished bathing when she noticed the sun starting to rise behind the trees. Standing up from the lake with a towel in her hand, the sound of footsteps resounded behind her and her eyes narrowed.

The moment she turned around, she was met with a familiar pair of gray eyes staring back at her, stunned. Rin's eyes widened in shock, and her entire body froze.

It was An Sun.

All of An Sun's clothes were stripped from his body beside a towel wrapping around his waist, revealing the fine lines of his body and his well-defined abdomen to Rin's eyes.

Meanwhile, An Sun looked back in a daze, his gray eyes staring at her. He watched as she clung tightly to the corner of her towel, which was only covering the most important parts of her body.

Everything else was practically bared to his gaze. The faint morning light filtering through the gauzy trees, giving her fair skin a lovely glow.

For a while, there was a prolonged moment of silence as the two stared at one another, too shocked to speak. It was only after a few minutes that Rin was able to find her voice again. A furious blush flared to life on her cheeks.

”You…” Before she could even react, the two detected the sound of footsteps and voices nearby. A group was coming their way.

”Shit,” An Sun cursed through gritted teeth.

Rin barely had the time to let out a surprised gasp when An Sun dragged her behind a large rock. Just at that moment, the men they heard earlier came from behind the bushes. It was the group of men An Sun brought along with him.

”Haha, I told you I saw a lake over here!” The muscular Yin Changpu proudly stood with his hands on his hips, bare-naked.

Fan Mingli looked into the water and dipped a scrawny leg in. Immediately, his entire body shivered and he retracted his leg.

”It's cold!” He complained.

Yin Changpu snorted and slapped Fan Mingli hard on the back with a toothy grin. ”Don't be such a wuss and get in!”

Fan Mingli shot him a glare while rubbing his now bright red back. The other men laughed and began shedding their clothes and jumping into the lake. Their laughter rang throughout the area, creating a harmonious atmosphere. Meanwhile, behind a large boulder settled within the lake, the atmosphere was anything but harmonious.

With their backs facing one another, An Sun and Rin gloomily listened to the men joke and shed their clothing before jumping into the lake.

They were stuck here. However, that wasn't even the worst of it. They were naked and stuck. Instantly, not just An Sun, but Rin were cursing Yin Changpu and the others for coming at such bad notice.