17 Haunted brats. (1/2)
Li Yang sauntered back to where Mei Kongxu should be dealing with the rabble that he had left behind for her, his hands resting behind his head in a casual manner. But while he radiated an air of carefreeness, he was actually keeping a vigilant eye on his surroundings and focusing his various senses as much as he could. He had already fallen into Ho Fei's trap once, he wasn't interested in falling in another the moment he turned his back.
He hadn't gone far with Ho Fei, only around half a kilometre, so the trip back barely took him any time. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious while he saw the vision, but Mei Kongxu had already knocked down the four other youths by the time he returned.
He wasn't sure if she did it to be theatrical or because she wanted to put the youths in their place, but she had placed the four youths into a pile which she had then sat down on. It seemed almost as if she was trying to emit a majestic and threatening aura, sending a very faint glare in Li Yang's direction. But Li Yang acted as if he didn't even detect the glare at all, walking right up to Mei Kongxu and running his scrutinizing gaze up and down her seated figure for a short second before the corner of his lip raised slightly.
”Yeah, that regal appearance doesn't work at all, it just looks like you're trying too hard to be threatening and grand, kinda lessens the impact actually. You're too pretty and delicate to fit the tyrant profile that you're aiming for, a bloody fairy might work as a title for you, but you look a bit too clean for that, some dirt and blood might help on that front.”
The four men who were beaten down beneath Mei Kongxu were only able to groan, partly from the pain and partly due to the fact that Li Yang wasn't even acknowledging their existence. As for Mei Kongxu, she maintained her chilly expression and faint glare, ignoring his fake attempt at giving her advice.
”I am not a weak maiden, I don't need you to fight my battles or take on my enemies, they are mine alone.”
Mei Kongxu straightforwardly mentioned the source of her dissatisfaction, making it abundantly clear that she did not enjoy being treated like a damsel in distress. But sadly for her, Li Yang had his own thoughts on the matter.
”First off, I'd like to remind you that the one they came for was me, so they were technically my enemies and my fight. And secondly...”
Li Yang's sentence trailed off for a short second as he bent forward and brought his face closer to Mei Kongxu's, leaving only a few centimetres between the two of them.
”Your battles, your enemies, why should I give a shit about any of that? I didn't like that sissy's prissy boy face so I wanted to beat him up. I didn't like him, so I beat him up, just as I'll do to any others who I don't like, no matter who they are, who they know, or where they come from. So I'm sorry, Fairy Sister, but I didn't beat him up for you, it didn't have a single thing to do with you.”
Since she was straightforward, so too was he, taking a small break from his usual teasing and light-hearted persona to show that even he could be serious at times. But sadly, he broke that serious moment after only a few seconds of silence, his expression returning to his usual carefree one as he straightened his back and changed the topic.
”Back when we first met, one of the questions you asked me is what I would do if the mere presence of a close friend led to my slow and agonizing death, didn't you? Why did you ask me that?”
The question popped up in his mind as he walked back here while thinking about the vision he had seen. One of the last things the two people spoke of in the vision was how the woman had seemingly killed the man nine times, with the man responding that it was him who killed himself by making his choice.
And since he also mentioned that he would do it again since she meant the world to him, that choice might very well have been to be with her, despite whatever accursed thing she apparently carried. The question Mei Kongxu asked him back then carried some similarity to that situation so Li Yang decided to pursue it, he might end up finding a hint or two if he was lucky. Of course, Mei Kongxu didn't know about the vision he had so she could only assume that he asked the question for a different reason.
”Ho Fei told you a thing or two, didn't he?”
Her expression sank somewhat as she stated the rhetorical question, causing one of Li Yang's eyebrows to perk up somewhat. An ice fairy like her actually had some things she didn't want others to know about? His curiosity was piqued somewhat, but rather than pursue this interest, he continued on with his original goal, leaning in a bit closer.