「baggage.」
Jiuli knew exactly in which areas he had skills and baby sitting was not one of them. A part of him wanted to just go on and leave the irritating cripple behind. Another part of him, however, urged him to stay. The Nies, were, after all, charged with not only delivering justice but to protect the weak as well.
To give him some due respect, the cripple was doing his best to not hold anyone back. Jiuli can tell because even though he had lost his cane, the one who called himself Jian was hopping along diligently. It must be tiring to move that way, yet the other persisted in order to be less of a burden. Likely it was just out of pride, but Jiuli appreciated the man’s efforts.
As reward, he made the man a makeshift cane out of a fallen tree branch.
“Lean on this.” Jiuli shoved the thing in Jian’s hands, squinting. “Actually, give it back.” He snatched it before giving the other a chance to properly react and sliced a piece off of it. It felt wrong, to be using his sabre against wood, but it was for a good cause. “There.” The height matched better this way.
It felt weird, demon hunting with a stranger. “Once the demon shows up, you should do your best to stay out of my way.” Jiuli knew himself well and was aware of how he could start focusing solely on the battle and ignore those around him. Too many times he’d nearly cut Yukai in the past, so it was only fair that the cripple should receive a warning. “If I accidentally kill you because you put yourself in the path of my sabre...know that it would be your own fault.”