CHAPTER 19: THE QUAD BROTHERS BANDITS

On a dirt path going to Mu Village, Cecilia, Xing Fu, and Physician Wei were coming back from visiting a patient. Xing Fu carried Physician Wei’s medicine box and his shoulders were getting sore.

Xing Fu massaged his shoulder. “Physician Wei, I don’t understand how you can carry this big heavy box.”

Physician Wei chuckled, “I’ve been carrying it for over thirty years, so I’m used to it.”

Crossing her arms in front, Cecilia turned to Xing Fu, “If your shoulders hurt, then let me carry it.”

Xing Fu shook his head, “You’re too tiny. I’m afraid this medicine box will break your back instead.”

Offended, she purposely bumped him on the side hard and he staggered.

She raised her voice, “I’m not weak as you think!” and huffed.

Physician Wei laughed at their argument and told them to calm down. Xing Fu apologized and she forgave him. As they continued to have their light conversation, a group of bandits came out of the forest and surrounded them.

Xing Fu held her hand, “Xiao Xing, don’t be scared…”

She felt his hand trembling and knew he was more frightened than her and held his hand tight to calm him down. In her mind, she counted ten bandits; all wore scruffy brown and black outfits. Their hairs were messy as if they hadn’t combed it for a while, and some have overgrown beards and thick mustaches to cover half of their bottom faces. A man with a permanent scar on his left cheeks stroked his thick mustached as he leered at Cecilia, licking his lips. She saw his behavior and felt uncomfortable, so she looked away to avoid eye contact.

The scarred face man said to his men, “Well, look what we have here.” He saw both of them holding hands and sniggered. “Beautiful, leave that weak man of yours and let me and my men show you a great time.”

Xing Fu stepped in front of her to block them.

“STAY AWAY FROM HER!” he yelled angrily.

The scarred face man gave a sardonic laugh as he stared at Xing Fu’s physique.

“What are you going to do? Kill me? I hardly doubt you can achieve that.” His men laughed and it made Xing Fu angry.

The medicine box flung toward the laughing scarred face man and it hit his face. It fell onto the ground, pouring out little medicine bottles.

“My medicine!” yelled Physician Wei.

The scarred face man staggered backwards from the hit and his men stopped laughing. The scarred face man touched his forehead and saw blood on his hand. Angry, he pointed his sword at Xing Fu.

“You bastard! You want to be a hero. Fine! You’ll die like one then!”

He charged at Xing Fu with his sword raised upward, roaring like a beast. Cecilia’s fighting instinct triggered and quickly interfered. She pushed Xing Fu out of the way to the side and he fell to the ground. The sword missed, and the scarred face man met Cecilia’s gripped hands on his forearm instead. With all of her strength, she threw him across her shoulders and he flew to the ground, knocking the wind out of him.

His men saw their fourth in command leader hurt and charged at her with their swords. She turned her head and saw them coming from every angle. Two men arrived first and thrust their swords forward, aiming at her stomach, but found air, as Cecilia swung a hard chop onto one of the man’s back neck with the end of her hand. The blow so was hard that a shot of breath left him as he staggered and fell. The other man raised his sword to make his swing downward but met her front kick to the stomach instead. His body flew a couple of feet away from her and fell onto the ground. She saw the sword on the ground next to him and quickly picked it up. With the point blade down, she pierced it into his heart. The other men were already a few feet away from her, so she quickly pulled the sword out of the dead man and began to swordfight with them. The sword moved with grace as she twirled it around in her hand to defend their blades as they made their strikes.

Physician Wei helped Xing Fu get up from the ground and both were stunned that she could fight. With nine bandits against one, Physician Wei was going to help her, but saw that she was in control of the situation.

One by one, the bandits were killed with her sword until the scarred face man was left standing. Both stood at the opposite of each other with their sword stances, sweating and breathing heavily. The scarred face had never met such a tough opponent, especially a woman. He charged toward her with his sword raised high above; she too charged at him and both met in the middle with their metal blades clanged as they hit. Both exchanged swings and hits with their swords until she saw a vulnerable open spot to his lower abdomen and made her strike. Just as she calculated, the blade thrust into his lower abdomen and out of his back. He dropped his sword to the ground and looked down at where he was stabbed. Then he glanced at her in disbelief that he had lost. She quickly pulled out the blade from him and he fell forward, face down, and let out his last breath.

Everything was over. She dropped the sword and collapsed onto her knees, exhausted from the long fight. She looked down at her bloody robe and hands…So much blood…and started to tremble from the horrific sight.

Xing Fu and Physician Wei stood in awe, speechless of what they had just witnessed. Xing Fu couldn’t believe that a tiny woman like her could kill the bandits single-handed. To Physician Wei, he had never seen a person moved swiftly with a sword to kill and it made him wondered who she really was.

Suddenly, Cecilia’s head started to throb and she shut her eyes tightly. The pain had worsened and she tried to fight it. Then something happened. Images of her being trained as an assassin in a secret base with others like her-shooting different guns, learning different types of martial arts and weapons, language skills, and computer skills projected from her mind to see.

She shook her head in disbelief of what she was seeing and repeated, “No…No…”

She saw herself shooting, beating, and killing targeted criminals. Then her being beaten, shot at, and tortured by them. She couldn’t take it anymore and let out a loud utterly cry which could be heard through the forest. Then she fainted onto the ground. Xing Fu and Physician Wei rushed to her side. Xing Fu picked her up from the ground and laid her on his front shoulder.

He tried to wake her up, “Xiao Xing…Xiao Xing…”

She didn’t respond. Physician Wei quickly took her pulse. “She overworked herself. Let’s take her back to the clinic.”

“Alright.”

Xing Fu picked her up and carried her to Mu Village.

---

Cecilia woke up from fainting and saw that she was in a bedroom. She turned her head and saw Xing Fu’s dosing off in front of her. Now that he knew she could fight and had killed, she was afraid of him distancing himself from her. Losing him was like losing everything she knew and have. Her tears started to fall down. Xing Fu’s head slipped down from his hand and it woke him up. She saw his eyes opening and quickly turned her head the other way, hoping that he didn’t see her awake. Her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep.

“Xiao Xing…I know that you’re awake.”

She was ashamed to face him and more tears trickled down her face. He held her hand, but she quickly pulled her hand out of his and turned her body to face the wall.

She choked on her words as she spoke, “I’m a killer.”

Xing Fu shook his head, “No, you’re not.”

She couldn’t speak since she was choking her own tears, so she shook her head, not believing his words.

“If you’re a killer, then why did you save me and Physician Wei’s life?”

His question made her think and her crying died down. She turned around and gave him a quizzical look. Xing Fu saw how horrible she looked-her face covered with strands of hair and wet with tears and nasal mucus. But that didn’t disgust him one bit. His hands raised to her face and parted her loose hairs to the side. With his fingers, he wiped her tears from her eyes and cheeks. Then his fingers moved down to her nose and mouth to wipe her nasal mucus. During all of this, she gazed at him, mesmerized by his affection of love for her. He smiled warmly down at her and held her hands.

“Xiao Xing, I want you to know that no matter what you did, I will never judge you. You will always be my Xiao Xing. Please, share with me your troubles. I am here for you and will never let you go through this alone.”

She nodded and more tears fell down to her cheeks from hearing his words. He wiped her tears again and slowly leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. This was his first time that his lips touched a part of her soft skin. Then he stroked her hair and continued to gaze into her hazel eyes.

“How’s your headache?” he asked softly.

“It’s better now.”

“Physician Wei and Physician Guo are out in the main area waiting for us. They are not going to judge you ok?”

She trusted him and nodded again.

Xing Fu helped her get out of the bed and both walked out of the bedroom. In the main area, she saw the Physician Wei and Guo Jing stood waiting for them. They saw Xing Fu and Cecilia and were excited to see her awake.

In front of the Physicians, she lowered her head. “Physician Wei, I am sorry if I gave you a big fright from the incident.”

Physician Wei laughed loudly, “You do not need to apologize. I am actually happy that you saved us, or else we wouldn’t be alive.”

His statement made her smile with no worries.

Guo Jing directed his hands toward the table. “Come let’s have a seat.”

They walked to the table and sat down. Guo Jing poured tea for all of them to drink. Physician Wei drank his and then looked at Cecilia.

“Miss Xiao, your sword skills were excellent. I am impressed that you can fight.”

Cecilia sighed heavily, “That shouldn’t be a compliment…” They were surprised of her answer and she continued, “During my headaches, my memories projected other images from my past. I saw myself being trained to kill people…I…killed so many…” Her brows furrowed, looking at them with her teary eyes.

Xing Fu held her hand to comfort her. Physician Wei and Guo Jing glanced at each other, stunned by what she said.

“This isn’t the first time…” she paused and took a deep breath before she continued. “I…I almost killed somebody.”

All three shocked by what she said and exclaimed in unison, “What?!”

“W…When?” asked Xing Fu.

“It was when the con artist and his men tried to assault me.”

Xing Fu got confused, “I thought Wu Jian was the one that saved your life.”

“He covered for me…He saw me fought them and I begged him not to tell anyone.” A drop of tear fell on her cheek and she wiped it. “I was afraid of losing all of you if you knew.”

Guo Jing had a friendly smile on his face and joked. “You’ve killed the bandits and we’re still here right?”

That made her chuckle a bit and she felt better.

He continued, “Remember, you need to prepare yourself emotionally when your memories come back. But don’t worry; we will help you get through this.”

She looked at everyone, “Thank you for all of your support.”

Xing Fu turned to her, “Xiao Xing, get yourself cleaned up so we can leave ok?”

She nodded lightly.

---

That night, Physician Wei stood in the middle of the garden, staring at the bright crescent moon. Guo Jing walked in and saw him. He knew his sworn brother was bothered by the morning incident and walked toward him.

“Brother Wei…”

He turned around and saw Guo Jing stood a couple of feet away from him.

“It seemed to me that Miss Xiao’s situation troubles you greatly.”

Physician Wei faintly smiled and then let out a sigh while he stroked his beard. “I’ve been thinking about what she said earlier. She may be an assassin.”

Guo Jing’s eyes widened in surprise, “Are you sure?”

Physician Wei nodded. “As an ex general of the perished Jiu Kingdom, I’ve seen many assassination attempts by enemies. Assassins are trained to kill. With their intense training, their body and mind becomes a killing weapon and kill with a blink of an eye.” He paused a bit as he thought about Cecilia; then he continued, “When I saw her kill those men, she didn’t have mercy in sparing any lives.”

“But with her new memories, there is hope for her right?” asked Guo Jing.

Physician Wei had no doubt about Cecilia’s genuine side. He thought about how fortunate she was to be surrounded by good people who cares and loves her. He nodded, “There is hope.”

---

More bandits arrived at the killing scene that night. They saw their men’s dead bodies on the ground everywhere. With their torches in their hands, they identified their dead brothers and counted all ten bodies present. Two medium built twin brothers, Yi Chong Lin and Yi Chong Kun, saw their fourth brother in command’s dead body. Chong Lin rolled him over and saw the stab wound.

His eyes started to get teary. “Brother…”

The Yi twins were known for their ruthlessness and their huge saber swords. Made with the finest metal and gold back lining, their saber swords were never dull. They could cut through any metals and would not be damaged. Due to their massive sizes and heaviness, the Yi twins carried their swords on the back.

Chong Kun knelt down and patted his back, “Chong Lin, we will find the killer. As for now, we need to go back and report this.”

He nodded. Then he noticed something on ground and lowered the torch to see what it was. On the ground was Cecilia’s jaded heart that Xing Fu bought for her at Mu Village, and he picked it up.

“Chong Kun, look.” He showed it to him. “Could this be the killer’s?”

“It could be.”

Chong Lin clenched the item in his hand tightly. He got up and shouted at their men, “Gather all the bodies and bring them back with us.”

“Yes,” said the men.

A day later, the bandits reached their hidden lair and the bodies were placed in a straight line on the ground. Yi Chong Lin and Yi Chong Kun stood to the side, as another man paced slowly back and forth in front of the dead bodies with the jaded heart in his hand. He felt the smoothness of the jade against his fingers and grasped a tight hold of it, silently releasing his anger. Around the man’s neck was Princess Ru Lan’s jaded pendant.

This man was Tsui Man.

Like Kai, his physique had changed also. Tsui Man worked out and had built more muscle mass. His hair grew down to his armpit. It was wavy and put into a low pony tail. He also grew a stubble beard which gave him a scruffy-look to match his hair. However, his scar on his left eyebrow still remained the same.  

Tsui Man became one of the leaders of the notorious bandits called, The Quad Brothers Bandits, that was formed by him, Yi twins, and Peng Fei. It branched off to four different territories to rule. Tsui Man in the East, Chong Lin in the West, Chong Kun in the North, and their dead brother, Peng Fei in the South. They were known to steal, kill and rape those who traveled to their territories. Within over eleven months, they had embedded fear into people’s minds and became well known to the underground (criminal) world and the Chu Kingdom official’s most wanted criminals.

“Brother Tsui, what should we do about the south territory and the killer?” asked Chong Lin.

“We will have to find another person to lead the south.” Then he glanced at the jaded heart, “For Brother Peng Fei, we will find the killer.”

Chong Lin became concerned. “It will be hard to find the killer.”

Tsui Man knew it would be easier to find the killer if Mortal Realm was advanced in technology. All he had with him when he came to the realm was the pendant and his clothes. He had to start over and build his new gang. Frustrated, he let out a big sigh. Then Chong Kun thought of something.

“Brothers, there is one person that could help us. In the underground world there’s a man by the name of the Resource Man. I heard he is a master of information. If you want to know about somebody, he will tell you everything about that person.”

“So he’s a human encyclopedia.” Tsui Man huffed, “And what the fuck does that have to do in finding the killer?”

“He has connections. He can help us find someone that could trace down the killer for us with a price.”

Tsui Man thought about it. This shitty hell hole does have people with extraordinary abilities comparing to my world. He nodded, “Fine. Tell that Resource Man to find the best tracker out there. I will double it if this tracker finds him.”

“I will prepare my leave and go find the Resource Man then.”

Tsui Man patted Chong Kun’s shoulder, “Bring some men with you just in case if there’s trouble.” Chong Kun nodded.

Chong Lin turned to Chong Kun, “Be safe brother.”

“I will,” and Chong Kun left the room.

Tsui Man stared at their dead brother Peng Fei and his men and then turned to Chong Lin, “Let’s give them a proper burial.”

---

In Tsui Man’s room, he took off his shirt, exposing his upper half naked body to get ready to sleep. He touched Princess Ru Lan’s pendant that hung around his neck and reminisced the night Alex Wong explained to him about other dimensions. He thought that Alex Wong was crazy, but now, the dead man was right. Tsui Man was stuck in another dimension and didn’t know how to get back home. At first, it was hard for him to adjust to the Mortal Realm. With no advance technology and modern transportation, it was hard to live. Nevertheless, the realm was hell on earth due to demons roaming the vast lands. At first he was scared out of his wits, but when he figured out they couldn’t hurt him, he felt better and safe.

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After saving himself from the Mystic’s raging river, he wandered through the forest, tired and weak. He couldn’t understand how he, Cecilia, and Kai fell down from the sky, and then remembered Alex Wong’s words. He pulled out the pendant from his pocket and stared at the jaded pendant.

“Was the crazy fool telling the truth?”

He panned around the forest as he walked. Behind him, on the ground, was a tree vine that had been following him since he set foot into the forest. It crept slowly, inching its way to his feet. Then it happened. The vine wrapped around one of his foot and pulled him to the ground. He saw the vine wrapped around his foot, dragging him, and started to panic. In front, he saw a huge tree that have a mouth full of razor teeth ready to eat him and struggled to get free. He was close to the demon tree and started to scream in horror. Then all of a sudden, he felt something warm in his hand that held the jaded pendant. He looked and saw the jaded pendant emitted green streams of lights from the cracks of his fingers. Amazed by what was happening, the tree demon saw it and became frightened. Its vine that held his foot slipped away quickly and the tree demon disappeared. Scared, he quickly got up and ran as fast as he could out of the forest.

FAST FORWARD TO PRESENT>>

It was all because of Princess Ru Lan’s pendant that he was still alive. Like the talismans mortals wore to protect themselves, the pendant had the same effect BUT more. It protected him from demons, internal qi, and spells that would kill him. None of his brothers knew about the pendant’s capabilities and he made sure it stayed like that. Although they are all sworn brothers, he didn’t want them to start plotting against him all because of power and greed; therefore, he had to be cautious.

The Yi twins and Peng Fei were the ones that educated him about the realms and how to navigate the vast lands. However, he never told them that he was from another world just because it wasn’t their business to know. Their assumption was that he came from the Seven Seas and he accepted it. With Tsui Man’s military and bomb backgrounds, he had taught his sworn brothers how to make bombs and shared military tactics for their raids. With his skillful knowledge, he also made his own guns and bullets for himself to use in case of an emergency.

Tsui Man let go of the pendant. He blew the red candle and went to bed.