Chapter 72 - Two Days Early (2)

"There's something I must tell you," Shi Yen said nervously. 

Long Xia's eyes widened, feeling as if she was about to hear something that would tilt her world. "What is it?" she asked, her throat tightening. 

"I must ask you something first," she started. "Are you seeing my son?"

Long Xia was lost for words. Something told her that if she lied, Shi Yen would know. But she used to have a fiancé; she's not supposed to be with Yuan Bojing. 

Long Xia took a deep breath. "Yes," she answered, lifting her eyes to face Shi Yen, and Long Xia did not expect her to look so sad and weary. 

"If you love Bojing, then I need you to save him."

"What?" Long Xia responded. 

Shi Yen took her hands in hers. It was hard beneath her touch. Long Xia had expected her hands to be soft, but no…she had a warrior's hand. 

"Xiatian, you must save him. Your name Long has made you a target. The other competitors had planned to execute you tomorrow night, assuming you were the strongest, giving them a better fighting chance. But my son worked hard tirelessly every day, trying to surpass you. He wanted to be the target; he wanted to give you a better fighting chance. He wanted you to live."

Long Xia felt as if she couldn't breathe. Everything she thought she knew about his motives, his intentions had collapsed around her.

She then asked the question she always asked but never got the answer to. "Why did he join the selection?" her voice shook.

Long Xia spent years wanting to know. She resented Yuan Bojing for not telling her, and now she was too afraid to find out. 

Shi Yen gave her a sad smile. "He did it for you, Xiatian. To save you." 

Long Xia stepped away from Shi Yen's grasp. "Where is he?" she breathed. She then stepped away from her and back into the party. She hadn't even realized Yuan Bojing had left. 

She should have stuck to his side and paid attention to him. She should not have been afraid to be around him. She should have told everyone that she was in love with Yuan Bojing and that he is hers! 

Panic had swelled in her chest, constricting her breath. 'He did it for you' kept replaying in her mind. 

Was this the reason why he pushed her over and over? She thought he was tormenting her, but no, he was encouraging her. He trained her, gave her a hand, pushed her to keep going and move forward without stopping. He wanted to be the target. Why would he do that? Why didn't he tell her?

She knew the answer. She would have stopped him, and he did not want that. 

"Where is he?" she shouted as she looked at her friends and family, who gave her no answers and only a saddened expression. 

They knew what he was up to; they knew about their attraction, and said nothing all this time. She could see it in their faces. 

"WHERE IS HE?" She asked again, anger arose in her voice. 

Finally, it was Long Yat-sen that stepped forward and told her where he was. 

She looked at him and ran. 

Long Xia stopped by her apartment, which was on the lower level and gathered her things. 

She had a feeling that the confrontation was pushed to tonight. Perhaps because Yuan Bojing had picked up Shi Yen was going to warn her. He did not want her to stop her. Damn him!

When she finds him, she is going to punch him and then kiss him. 

She lifted her family's sword from the scabbard, using the pommel in the shape of a dragon. She dreamt of using it in battle since she first saw it but never had the opportunity, aside from training. 

She strapped it to her back, and then she went off. 

Long Xia followed the directions her brother gave her, and when she arrived, it had already begun.

…

Yuan Bojing felt battered and bruised throughout his body. 

Everything hurt like hell. His skin was cut, his muscles strained. But he was still standing, so it counted for something. 

One against six gave him a survival chance to near zero. But he promised his mother. He promised himself that he'd fight. There was no way he would fall without giving it his all. 

There were no guns. It would defeat the purpose. There were only weapons and brute strength. 

Spectators had come.

He could see the members of each organization gathering to watch as the Son of the Empress get slaughtered, though they did not really know who he was. They think of him as the favoured one of the Empress, which made him a threat to everyone else. 

He could tell that his mother would be here by now, masked, pretending to be unaffected. He could tell she'd be silently crying beneath the material that covered her face, that his father would restrain himself from trying to comfort her. The Empress and Emperor could not look weak, even as if they watched their boy fight to the death. They'd have to blend into the audience and behave as if this was normal, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. 

Yuan Bojing had spent years training for this moment. Even though the other six were skilled, he was still better than them. But together…they outmatched him. 

And though he will eventually fall, it will save Long Xia from execution, and she will get to fight the other six fairly. 

This round was no competition. It was a slaughter. 

Yuan Bojing let his senses and adrenaline kick in, dodging attacks left and right. He constantly watched his back and front, but the other competitors took turns, trying to draw out his torture rather than to end him all at once. That would make the fight look anticlimactic, and with all the people coming to watch, it could not be over soon. 

He took a shallow stab to his thigh, most likely in other places too, but he hardly noticed. 

One of his rivals came forward and faked a lunge when someone else came from the other side and punched him in the gut. Yuan Bojing coughed out blood. 

He was going to die. 

He thought of Long Xia. 

He wished he had more time with her. He wished they had been born into normal lives and had normal dreams. But knowing them, they weren't normal, and that's what made them special. He smiled as he thought of her. Everything he's done had been for her, and he had no regrets. But he wished he could see her one last time before they killed him. 

"Bojing!" he heard that familiar voice call out to him. 

He tried to remain on his feet. 

That's not possible, he thought. She should have been home and distracted.. "You can't be here," he said as he turned to see Long Xia in front of him now.