This was the life he was meant to have.
Jiuli calmly wiped down his sabre, a pleased smile tugged at the corner of his lips. Was his expression a little morbid considering the situation? Absolutely. Did he care? No. Jiuli was even thinking that, perhaps, he had learned what he could from the Cloud Recesses and it was time for him to return to his ordinary duties. There was no point in completing a year - what his mother wanted him to take from the Lans was their inner peace. After the battle today, Jiuli understood more than ever that the path of Lan was not the correct one for him.
Hearing Yukai’s compliment, he actually gave a nod of acknowledgement instead of a judging look as per usual. This was an indicator that he was in a fantastic mood that couldn’t be easily spoiled. “Come here,” he told Yukai, finally looking up from his weapon to see his sworn brother’s dishevelled state. “I have an ointment for wounds, if you want, it works on burns too.” Jiuli turned his head, seeing another disciple with a few claw marks on his arm. “You too, come this way.”
Blood lust cooling, Jiuli’s eyes took on a sombreness as he assessed the damage they took. The demon bird did not go down without a fight and he wondered if the Lan sect leader knew how powerful this thing was before sending them out on the extermination mission. They could have all easily died on multiple occasions and...who knows, perhaps a few did die. Considering their group was mostly made up of inner disciples, he wondered what a death would mean for the sect alliances.
“Have anyone seen Jiang Lian?” The Nies and Jiangs had a good relationship, so of course that would be the first person he asked about. Jiuli would ask about Jin Zhiyang, except he already saw the man earlier, looking quite alright. He was not surprised, considering Zhiyang was an intelligent man who knew when to charge into battle and when to draw back. Lian, not so much.
One of the other disciples pointed and Jiuli turned in response. Jiang Lian didn’t look fantastic but his woman looked four times worse. Jiuli looked down at the medicinal ointment in his hand, frowned before waving over the other disciple. “Pass this to them after you use it,” he said, putting the container into his hands. Walking away before any questions could be asked of him, Jiuli couldn’t believe he was giving specialty Nie medicine made by their best doctors to a woman, who, by the way, should have stayed off of the battle field. Lian shall have his hands full, choosing an unrefined one like that for marriage.
At the same time, though, she did do her best against the demon bird, and that meant she helped with the mission. She did not deserve to die from her injuries and Jiuli wanted to make sure of that. The Huang Lady might be on the coarse side, but she had a courageous heart.
“Now, where is that cripple?” Jiuli wanted to ask Yukai, but before the words could leave his mouth, the ground began shaking. He thought the battle was over but clearly, he was mistaken. “Everyone, step back from that thing!” He shouted, averting his eyes from the red glow. “Don’t look at it!”













