Something Beautiful and Wicked

"According to Nianzu, we are to meet someone who owns a flower shop."     

"A flower shop?" Shi Ailin replied. "Why are flower-growers involved?"     

Luo Wanting glanced at her. "Well, it's one of the last places you'd expect for anyone to run a criminal organization."     

Shi Ailin nodded. "True."      

"But here is the heart of it all."     

"What?" she questioned.      

"Well, this whole village is greatly hidden. No one asks questions and the police are less inclined to keep tabs on what these people are doing. The people here are thriving, most likely because of criminal activity. Which means—"      

"Which means everyone here is our enemy," Shi Ailin answered.      

"Precisely," Luo Wanting replied. "But, we're not here to fight them. The locals may be a part of it, but they are making a living and it is out of our jurisdiction to do anything about it. They are part of a different society. It's not our place; besides, our goal here is to find information about your parents and to find the head boss to stop him from trying to go after your sister and everyone else that has to do with her."      

Shi Ailin could see the anxiety worn on his face. He wouldn't stop at Shi Yen. The head boss would go after all of them—Yuan Shun, Yuan Ning, Song Luli, Long Jie, Xun Zichen. Luo Wanting.      

"We should call for back-up," Shi Ailin said.      

"I've already called, but I told them to hold off."     

Shi Ailin knew why. Their full forces meant helicopters, it meant bringing in many members, and it meant they'd attract attention and start a war between these secret societies—which they were trying to avoid.     

When they went to a flower shop, they gazed across the shop. The store clerk, a beautiful woman had approached them. "Do you have anything you're looking for in particular?"     

Luo Wanting shook his head, only staring at the flowers as he said, "The fall wind continues to blow without ceasing, all I think of is Jujing. When will we pass the ravaging Wu?"      

Shi Ailin stared at him puzzled, not interpreting what he said. The lady smiled at them briefly, "come this way."     

"What did you say?" Shi Ailin asked.      

"It's all talk. A saying about the Song of Wu."     

"Wu…?" Shi Ailin questioned as they made their way through a secret passageway. They've been to many places like this before, but this time felt different. More frightening. It was stupid of them to go alone, but there was no turning back now.      

When they emerged from the passageway, into an underground den and in the centre of it was a man smoking and drinking thickly. He was tall and very broad throughout. He had white-blonde hair and dark brown eyes. He didn't say anything as the store clerk gestured them to sit across him.      

All the man did was stare at them.      

"Hello," Luo Wanting said. "A friend of ours had sent us here. We were wondering if you can help us with something."     

"And what is it that you want?" the man replied deeply.      

This was wrong—all wrong, Shi Ailin thought, feeling the anxiety expand in her bones. They shouldn't be here. She looked at Luo Wanting who also seemed to know if the thought had crossed his mind too, but he did not make a move.      

"Why would I want to provide any information in service to your queen."     

"Empress," Luo Wanting corrected him bitterly.      

The man smiled. "Ah, so you are in service of the bitch queen...and the lowly king. I heard rumours of the so-called Empress. They say she's a cold beauty, one that would make people tremble at the sight of her." He then turned to face Shi Ailin and smiled. "But I also heard of her sister. Also, a queen in her own right. A warm beauty, one that would make kings fall to their knees."      

Shi Ailin swallowed. "That's a bit of an exaggeration."      

The man smiled tightly. "I say you're more interesting than her, just by the looks of it."      

Shi Ailin gritted her teeth. He was basing her worth based on objectification. She didn't know him, but she hated this man already.      

"We just want information and then we'd be on our way," she informed him.      

He shook his head, laughing harshly. "I don't think so and to think you can come to my domain to make demands of such things."      

Shi Ailin's eyes went hazy. They were screwed. Fucked. Done. Mission over.      

The man pulled a gun from his waistband, aiming for Luo Wanting.      

"You were Wu Genji's father?" Shi Ailin interrupted.     

He smiled cruelly, staring at her, gun pointed at her partner, her lover. "Yes."      

A shot then reverberated and blood splattered across her face. Shi Ailin shook, her hand trembled.      

She took a deep harsh breath. Not realizing what just happened. She lowered the gun from her hand. The man was fast, but Shi Ailin was faster. She knew taking him by the element of surprise would be in her favour. And now there was a bullet in his head.      

"The kingslayer," Luo Wanting breathed. "That's what you are now."      

She didn't like killing but it was most likely the last time she'd do it. "It was for my parents," she said. "It's for what he did to Wu Genji, and many others that suffered his cruel violence."      

Luo Wanting looked around, grabbing her hand. "We must go." He then took her hand and led her down the passageway. They left the flower shop, and they ran out, far and fast. When they slowed down, Shi Ailin retched over a shrub.      

They were then caught up and cornered by henchmen.      

Shi Ailin grasped Luo Wanting's hand. If they were to be executed, they'd die together.      

Luo Wanting looked into her eyes, filled with love and longing. She realized there was no one else but him in this life and in the next.      

An ambush surrounded them, and she prepared herself for impact when it never came. She opened her eyes and realized it wasn't the forces of the Mountain Master, but it was her allies. Shi Ailin gasped when she saw Yuan Ning and Wu Genji, as well as Yuan Shun and Shi Yen.      

Shi Yen ran up to them, grabbed them by their hands and sprinted ahead for cover.      

The others stayed back against the forces of the Mountain Master and it was a blood bath between the two sides.      

They fell out of view toward a helicopter. Shi Yen was panting breathlessly when they made it to safety.     

"Are you stupid?" Shi Ailin told her by way of greeting. "You are pregnant. You shouldn't be here!"      

"And you?" Shi Yen countered. "You were just standing there, waiting to die execution-style."      

The two sisters looked at each other, angry and shaken, but then their expressions softened and they embraced each other.      

"I'm so glad you're okay," Shi Yen said breathlessly.      

"Me too. Thank you for coming to my rescue."      

Shi Yen then glanced at Luo Wanting. "The Mountain Master?"     

"Dead," he replied. "Bullet to the head. Executed by Shi Ailin."     

Shi Yen glanced at her sister, her eyes wide in awe and amazement. "Kingslayer," she breathed.      

"Quick reaction," Luo Wanting praised.      

"Quick thinking, indeed," Shi Yen replied. "If it weren't for the bullet in his head, things would have gone down to major shit. Better to kill him than now than to allow any more mishaps. Devils don't get redemption."      

Shi Ailin rolled her eyes. She happened to be lucky she had Luo Wanting's gun. He tucked it in her waistband before they left, saying he'd rather she have it to be safe, and though she was still shaken up, she knew she had no other choice. Better to end it now than later.      

The bloodbath did not take long to end. It was their victory.      

The flower keep then stumbled toward them, shaken. She was the only enemy spared. "There's something you should know…or see."      

Shi Ailin and Shi Yen followed her with their companions, all the way down to some makeshift underground prison. There were cells with people inside them.      

"Oh my god," Shi Yen said.      

The prisoners were frail, filthy, sick, and there were so many. It smelt like rotten flesh and human waste.      

They spent the entire day releasing the prisoners, getting them the medical aid they needed.      

Shi Yen and Shi Ailin were sitting by a tent when they noticed a woman running and leaping into the arms of a heavily bearded man. They froze.      

"I thought I'd lost you," Shi Yan said to his wife.      

Shi Yen took steps forward, each heavier than the last. Shi Ailin followed her.      

Shi Yen's mouth quivered. "Father…?"      

The bearded man, Shi Yan snapped his head toward them. He glanced between them, not believing it. Drinking in the sight. Shi Yen's hair, raven-black, dark eyes like his, and Shi Ailin who was the spitting image of her mother.      

"Girls…is that really you?" he asked.