NOVEL WEB 8 – The Face-Slapping Chapter
The earth turned, and the Chan Family home once more faced the sun on a fittingly beautiful morning. As if the Heavens knew that the Chan Family's troubles were over, a pink dawn melted softly into limpid blue sky as small shrikes flitted through the trees of the courtyard, singing.
A small, fresh breeze blew through the courtyard and outdoor corridors of the house, in through the open window of the room where Sek Gon was staying. He appraised the glorious day outside with a single sound -
“... hmph.”
- and then shut the window, before gloomily returning to rubbing a textured string across his chin and upper lip, removing the tiny strands of hair that clung embarrassingly there.
“Do you even have anything to remove?” Chan Bik asked bitingly by way of greeting, as she entered the room. Seeing she had stabbed Sek Gon exactly where it hurt and that he was now metaphorically bleeding out on the floor, she sighed and bit her nails nervously. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so nasty. Things just fall out without me thinking.”
She shot a hard look at Sek Gon, who had somewhat recovered and was peeling himself off the ground. “Although you're not exactly the most polite yourself.”
It was unlikely that Sek Gon would have deigned this observation with a response, but the opportunity was taken away from him anyway. At this point, Gou Dzing came bounding into the room as if he were the puppy of a temple-dog, a si dzi1狮子 (si1 dzi2) - can refer to the guardian lions / temple dogs made of stone that sit outside buildings to guard them., rather than a handsome young man. “I got a message this morning!”
“Congratulations.” Sek Gon clapped.
“My Master is going into seclusion training,” Gou Dzing continued, as if no one had spoken. “I need to go – well, I want to see her before she does. And...” Suddenly, he rounded on Sek Gon, knelt on the floor and desperately clutched the other man's robes. “You'll really come to Mount Fa, right? Right, Sir Sek? You'll come and see me?”
Sek Gon gaped at the Jade Exorcist, pawing at his clothing. “Yes! Yes! Let go of me!”
“Excellent!” Gou Dzing bounded upright, a big grin on his face. Sek Gon clutched his heart. Was this guy a used cart salesman? How could he change his attitude so quickly?
“I'm going to go ahead. Please take your time following... Actually, Lady Bik...” Gou Dzing turned to the young woman. “Make sure he doesn't take too much time.”
“I'll make sure. I want to get to Mount Fa and find a Master as soon as possible. Although... I would like to spend just... a little time... with my father.”
“Of course.”
Gou Dzing prepared to leave immediately. The Chan Family gathered to farewell him, gratefully bowing and offering him supplies and transportation to assist on his return to the sect. He accepted some food, but turned down the transportation.
“It'll be faster if I run,” he explained cheerfully.
“Of course! The Jade Exorcist is highly skilled!”
“Thank you again, Great Master Gou, for returning Father to us.”
“How did work out who he was?”
“We're so grateful you're looking out for Ah Bik!”
“Please take some more food.”
Gou Dzing smiled. “Really, it was Sir Sek who did most of the work. You all saw that he killed the Rat King Demon in the end.”
As one, the Chan Family sneaked a glance in the direction of the room where Sek Gon was staying. He hadn't come out to say goodbye to Gou Dzing. Instead, he was once more sitting dramatically on a windowsill, gazing into nothing while his hair blew about interestingly. His expression was completely apathetic.
“Um... well...”
“He's a little... hard to talk to.”
“He's anti-social,” Chan Gam said bluntly.
“He's a jerk,” Chan Bik said even more bluntly. Her family didn't even reprimand her this time.
“He's just awkward,” Gou Dzing said generously. “I don't think he's very used to relating to people.”
Yan Wai-Wai sighed, her arms hooked possessively through an arm of each of her husbands. “He'll need to learn soon, that child. Life will be even tougher for him, otherwise.”
Having thought for a moment, Gou Dzing excused himself, and quickly joined Sek Gon at his perch at the window. “Sir Sek?”
“Hm?”
“I... You understand why I'm asking you to take your time, right? I know you would easily be able to keep up with me... You can probably travel even faster, in all honesty.”
“...”
“Chan Bik will need someone to look after her. I'm sorry to ask this of you. I know you dislike annoying things. Please... think of this as a favour. I'll repay you.”
“...”
Gou Dzing waited an uncomfortable amount of time for a response. He was about to say goodbye and leave, when Sek Gon suddenly spoke. “Is that all?”
“Is... what all?”
“...”
Really, Sir Sek, would it kill you to answer...?
“I see.”
You see what?
Sek Gon turned his head very slightly, and without raising his eyes, he said, “I will see you soon.”
That sentence from anyone else could be a throwaway line. But from Sek Gon's mouth, it brought an expression that could only be described as relieved anticipation to Gou Dzing's face.
“Then... I'll be waiting.”
“How much further is it?” Chan Bik wailed miserably, crouched close to the fire she had built when they stopped for the night. She had shown a surprising aptitude for starting a campfire, but not so much for travelling. It was killing her to be on the move for so long, and with a silent companion on top of that. Sek Gon wordlessly roasted some rabbits he had found when he had accidentally put his foot in the entrance of a warren whilst going to relieve himself in the woods. This had scared the rabbits out of another entrance and he'd managed to recover himself quickly enough to catch a couple for dinner. Satisfied that the rabbit was thoroughly cooked, he began to eat.
Chan Bik stared. “Wait... isn't one of those mine?”
Sek Gon looked at his perfectly cooked rabbits, looked at Chan Bik, looked back at the rabbit. With an air of great sadness, he handed over the second rabbit.
“... do you really hate having to giving this to me that much?”
“Why don't you give it to me then?” asked an unfortunately familiar voice.
Chan Bik almost dropped her rabbit. “Who...?”
She found she was almost nose-to-nose with a woman with a pretty smile and a pretty nose and eyes that were unsettlingly large, and scuttled backwards as though she had run into a demon. Teem Djeung Baak eyed the rabbit greedily. “A meal cooked by Little Handsome himself... Give it to me!”
“N... NO! No, it's MY dinner!” Chan Bik, recovering, managed to scream back. Sek Gon thought he might be blown over by the force of her shout. He hastily crammed the rest of his own rabbit into his mouth.
“Let's play a game then,” Teem Djeung Baak said, seating herself comfortably cross-legged. “Whoever wins gets the meat.”
“Sek Gon, who is this? Do you know her?” Chan Bik muttered anxiously, trying to seek some support from the man. Unfortunately, his mouth was full of rabbit, so all he did was shrug.
“Come on, I'm hungry,” Teem Djeung Baak said, her voice beginning to carry a hard edge. She fiddled meaningfully with the handle of a knife sheathed into a belt across her chest, and Chan Bik suddenly became very aware that the other woman was bristling with blades, carried all over her body. With a combined rush of fear and anger, she sat herself resolutely in front of the strange woman. “What game do you want to play?”
“How about.... you know the clapping game?”
“The clapping game...”
There was such a game. The children played it – one child would start as the commander, and would call out a geographical direction. All the other children would have to quickly clap their hands, then move them into a position that represented that direction. If they were too slow, or got it wrong, there was a penalty.
“I know it. That's a kids' game.” Chan Bik's lip curled.
“Then it should be easy.” Teem Djeung Baak smiled brightly. “Best of three?”
The rabbit was carefully placed on a cleaned rock. Chan Bik shot the salivating Sek Gon a sharp look, before assuming the same position that Teem Djeung Baak had – hands palms together, the fingertips pointing towards her opponent.
Their fingertips met. Chan Bik suddenly felt uneasy.
“I'll start,” Teem Djeung Baak sang. And with the speed of a striking crane, she slapped Chan Bik viciously across the face.
Chan Bik felt as though it were her lungs that had been slapped. All of the air went out of her, and before she could even gather her wits, a second slap followed quickly behind the first, on the other side of her face. She fell backwards to the sound of Teem Djeung Baak whooping gleefully. The other woman pounced upon the rabbit and tore into it. “Ah, a meal cooked by the Little Handsome One, how lovely!”
Chan Bik staggered upright, her face burning and throbbing with excruciating pain. Her upper lip felt a little hot and wet; dazed, she licked at it to find that her nose was bleeding. Finally, her brain caught up. “Y... YOU! THAT WASN'T THE RIGHT GAME!”
“Since when?” Teem Djeung Baak contradicted. “I said the clapping game, didn't I?”
“But the clapping game... It's not...” Chan Bik wanted to tear this woman apart, but she was instinctively aware that she was no match for Teem Djeung Baak. She appealed anxiously to Sek Gon, who was watching Teem Djeung Baak devour the rabbit with an unfathomable expression. “Sek Gon... This isn't right! Can't you help me?”
Sek Gon considered this, then stood up. Chan Bik's spirits rose a little, despite the pain she was in, but they were slammed to the ground a moment later – the cultivator simply turned, and walked away from the fire.
“S... SEK G-”
“Wait! Little Handsome! Are you leaving so soon?” Teem Djeung Baak cracked through the rabbit bones with her teeth, the awful sound echoing through the night forest. “Stay and play with me too. I think you'll last longer than that fake Jade Exorcist, right? Is he dead yet? I wasn't sure how deep I managed to get him.”
Sek Gon stopped. He turned a faintly puzzled expression towards Chan Bik. “... Are you coming, Miss Chan?”
“Aren't you going to fight her?” Chan Bik cried, her face growing more painful as she was unable to stop the tears pouring down her swollen cheeks. She struggled to breathe, mucus and blood blocking her nose. Teem Djeung Baak watched with fascination, still cracking rabbit bones with her teeth. “Wow! What a fascinating colour!”
Sek Gon blinked. “Why?”
This was too much. Chan Bik sat helplessly on the ground and cried, her hurt pride and hurt face driving the tears more. Teem Djeung Baak howled with laughter and poked Chan Bik's face with great amusement, which only made the girl cry even more.
“S...stop! Stop it!”
“Stop.”
Teem Djeung Baak raised her enormous eyes to look at Sek Gon, who stood beside her now. She raised her finger to Chan Bik's face once more, a huge smile growing on her face. “Or?”
“...”
She moved to poke Chan Bik's damaged cheek.
There was a whooshing sound; Teem Djeung Baak sprang back, Chan Bik felt a cold draft chill her face momentarily. Otherwise, nothing seemed to have happened.
Sek Gon's hand was on the hilt of his sword.
“Fast!” Teem Djeung Baak exclaimed, experimentally flexing her fingers and checking with exaggerated care that they were all still there. A few drops of blood beaded her hand. Her huge eyes gleamed with excitement. “I knew it. You have to play with me, Little Handsome.”