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Yuanzhi was not weak. He was far from defenceless. Young master of the Gong family, their famed poison genius, a famous warrior within his own right. More myth than reality to the martial realm since he rarely left the safety of the Gong estate. His rare appearances to the world outside their valley and mountain having increased slightly since the second Wufeng invasion. It seemed that after killing the Monk who had slaughtered Lang Didi all those years ago was just what he needed to get Shangjue to loosen the reins and begin to allow him more journeys out of their valley. Not that Yuanzhi cared much for the world beyond, despite missing Shangjue like a the absence of a comfort object or the security of a blanket every time he was away on his journeys. He was still not allowed to join his Gege on those trips. The public representation of the Gong family was a heavy weight and despite his yearning to be the blade at his brother’s back, he was well aware that he would also be a weakness.
For that was the third famed thing about him. He was Gong Shangjue’s weakness and it was no secret within the martial realm. He was Shangjue’s beloved Didi and Yuanzhi would much rather wait at home like some housewife, preparing new poisons for his brother’s next trip and training his skills, than let himself put his brother in danger. He maybe wild, impulsive (insane some would say), but he would rather let a blade carve out his insides than get his brother injured. (The new scars on his hands from the Wufeng invasion were a reminder of that. White and textured no matter how much medicine he used. His usual gloves worked the best rather than have Shangjue frown every time he saw them). Despite all this, he was not going to ignore the opportunity to go to town more often. Picking out the best herbs for his poisons was always exciting to him and haggling with the merchants was always fun even if he lost half the time.
He had not been expecitng the ambush. Ziyu, Sword Wielder (it was still strange calling his cousin that), had given him leave to go into town to check their latest shipment of herbs for the stores. He had requested it out of the itchy need to be useful. Shangjue had been gone too long and he needed something new to do other than pace the training yards and recheck the packaged poisons for the twentieth time. He didn't request things from Ziyu, so despite the way he had brought the subject up as a suggestion, the Sword Wielder saw through it with a small teasing smile. He had granted it and Yuanzhi had swallowed down his pout at being seen through so easily and set of to make preperations.
It was a spurn of the moment trip. The information shouldn't have had time to escape the estate. Yuanzhi left with only two guards, not wanting to draw too much attention since the only thing he was doing was going to check the herbs. So he wasn't prepared for an ambush. Wasn't expecting the arrows that took out his guards as they took a short cut to the merchant's store through a back alley. Only his brother's rigorous training allowed him to avoid the projectiles, twisting his body as he unsheathed his sword. Second hand reaching for his hidden weapons as he scanned the roof tops for the threat, ony for his eyes to widen at the shadows emerging from the eaves. There had to be fifteen of them at least, all clothed in grey fabric that covered their faces and erasing their identities. Yuanzhi was a skilled warrior but he was outnumbered.
He fought like a feral beast. Blade cutting and his teeth bared as he defended himself. The scent of blood in the air as he took them all down one by one. Some of them collapsing in silent wide eyed agony, bodies quaking as the poison from his hidden weapons infused their blood. Others spraying him in blood as his sword severed thier ateries. But not matter how many he took down,there just seemed to be more.
The fighting left a train of blood across the rooftops as he tried to avoid the attackers. At first he thought he could take them, he just needed to by himself time to escape, until one of them got a lucky hit to his leg. A slask of a knife that made him scream as it left a deep bloody wound across his calf. He buckled, blood staining his trousers and robes as the muscle faltered. The last thing he thought before hands were sealing his acupuncture points, imobilising his internal force and rendering him defenceless, was that his brother was going to be furious.
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They released his acupuncture points to chain his hands behind his back. Dragging him along by his arms to throw him into a cell with no words, not matter how many threats he spat at them, or how hard he struggled. Eventualy they gagged him, shoving a wad of fabric between his teeth as he hissed and spat at them and binging it in place with a strip of fabric tied over his mouth. The knot tugging at his messy hair.
"The young master of the Gong family nothing better than a dog at my feet", a smug voice stated. Yuanzhi glared up at the man who had just swanned into the room in robes veering on the verge of being too gaudy. He was older, almost old enough to be Yuanzhi's father, with fine lines around his eyes that only emphasised his slightly slimy look. When he grinned, it exposed a gold tooth. Yuanzhi had never seen him before in his life and would be quite happy if he never did again.
The man eyed him with a smug leer, gaze lingeirng on the crude bandaging on his calf. Just enough to stop him from loosing too much blood. It seemed that they wanted him alive. "Gong Yuanzhhi. You do not know me but your brother does. He took everything from me, so I aim to return the gesture". There were no warmth in his eyes. Just greed and self satisfaction.
Yuanzhi smiled under his gag. He would enjoy it when his brother slit this man from groin to his addams apple. This fool had no idea what he was dealing with. He might have been caught by surprise, overwhelmed and taken in a moment of weakness but he wasn't weak. He was a young master of the Gong family and they had made the mistake of leaving him in his own under robes. Yes they had done the moderately clever thing of stripping him of any visible weapons and his outer robes, but they had neglected to remove his under robes. Shangjue was the paranoid sort who had taught Yuanzhi to hide as many weapons on him as possible. The tiny set of lockpicks he'd had sewn into a hidden pocket of the sleeve of his inner robes were already in his fingers.
The slimy man seemed to notice the lack of fear in Yuanzhi's face because the man stiffened in anger. "You won't be smiling when I am through with you. Not when I present your head to your brother. I wonder if he'll scream".
Yuanzhi would die for Shangjue any day but the thought of his beloved Gege grieving him, of the pain he would go through if he saw the corpse of another little brother, that made him growl unheard promises of pain into his gag. If he died here then Shangjue would blame himself even more than he already did. Yuanzhi couldn't allow that.
The muffled growled threats just made the man laugh. It echoed off the grimy stone walls of the cell. "We shall see how much energy you have when my men are through with you". He turned to the grey soldiers behind him. "Don't kill him. I want to save that for when his brother gets here. A ransom note has already been sent to the Gong residence. I am sure the blood stained robes and weapons we left them are enough incentive to have them moving". The last words were spoken with a smug smirk towards Yuanzhi before the man swanned from the room with a swish of his gaudy robes. The young man just sighed in relief at the conformation that his hidden weapons were not lost in some back alley.
He felt the lock on his cuffs click and they were loose. He glanced up at the five men left in the cell with him and smiled.
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Blood soaked his thin inner robes, sticking the fabric to his skin as he half hopped, half hobbled away from the cell that had been his. A sword stolen from one of the guards in his free hand as he used the other to prop himself up agaisnt the wall. The wet material letting the chill of the dungeon seep into his skin. If his internal force wasnt drained from the chains and the amount of fighting he'd had to do then maybe he could have stomached the cold better. Instead his breath came out foggy as he concentrated all his energy into moving forwards. The wound on his calf burning as it dripped more blood along the floor in a trail behind him. A few new matching gashes, stining but not as deep, dotted his right thigh and left side of his ribs. The blood of those disguised under the blood coating him. He wanted a bath and a nap, preferably in his bed back at his estate with his brother watching over him.
The thundering of dozens of footsteps on stone began to draw closer and Yuanzhi threw himself at the nearest door. He was not in the position to fight more so hiding was his best option for survival right now, and he must survive. It was his good fortune that the door wasn't locked as it burst open at his weight. He shut it quietly behind him and glanced around the space. It was a storage room, a cellar full of boxes of wines and bottles, lit only by the meager light seeping around the cracks in the door. He guessed they kept it close to the dungeons due to the chilly temperature.
Outside the footsteps drew closer. Yuanzhi threw himself across the room, limping as fast as he could towards the corner where he had spied a gap between the stacked crates. It was a tight squeeze but he was far more flexible than he appeared and in a second he was pressed up against the freezing wall. The crates hiding him from sight as he positioned the stolen sword in front of him. It was not suited to him, too chunky and off balanced but it would do as a last defence if his kidnappers found him.
His breath misted the air as he listened and waited.
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He was shivering, sword trembing in his grip as he waited. He wasn't sure of how long he had been down here but the footsteps had long since faded. Distantly, something had crashed and he might have heard shouts, but he wasn't certain. The stone walls keeping the noise out and he had long since lost the energy to move. The chill had seeped into his bones and he could feel his head growing fuzzy.
Something heavy banged outside and he jolted in surprise, the shock stirring some of the fuzziness from his head. He readjusted his grip on the sword as outside a voice roared. It was muffled but still familair. Yuanzhi felt his shoulders relax slightly as he pressed the fingers of his free hand into the still bloody wound on his calf. The preassure made him hiss in pain but the reward of fresh blood seeping out through the bandages was worth it. Previously, he had been hoping that the blood trail he had left wasn't noticable, now he hoped that it would be enough. Just enough since he didn't have the energy to scream.
His patience was rewarded with the sharp cracking sound of the cellar door being kicked open. A pause before heavy boots, the sound of a gait as intimaitely familair to Yuanzhi as his own, sounded in the stone space. A slow inhale. "Didi?" Shangjue's voice instantly made the fear in Yuanzhi's chest seep away like water down a drain.
He took a deep breath, wincing at the pain it caused in the gash along his chest. "Gege". Instantly Shangjue was before him, one had holding a lantern that blinded Yuanzhi for a moment. His older brother was blood splattered, not as soaked as Yuanzhi, but the substance glinted in the light. Highlighting his concerned gaze and the violence bubbling just under the surface. Shangjue's violence had never frightened Yuanzhi, not even when his Ge had almost killed him. He knew that Shangjue would never knowingly hurt him. So he dropped the swords and reached out, feeling the prickling of tears in the back of his eyes. He didn't let them fall, hated to cry but new that his brother had caught the sheen anyway.
Shangjue didn't hesitate before he was reaching back. Hands so gentle as he lifted Yuanzhi from the corner and into his lap. "Knew you'd come", the younger sighed as he nestled against the warm body. He smirked into a shoulder. "I did not let them do anything to me Ge", there was smug pride in his voice as he recalled the destruction and carnage he had left of the men who would have tortured him.
Shangjue hugged him closer as he shivered. Arms strong enough to lift him up like a bride as he rose, carrying him from the room. "I saw. I'm proud of you".
Yuanzhi almost purred at the praise. Shangjue was frowning. "You're freezing. Elder Yue is waiting outside". That probably meant that Shangjue had dragged the healer here.
"Did you get him?" Yuanzhi asked, exhustion weighing him down.
Shangjue's hold tightened and his face was dark with vengence as he hummed. "The martial world needed a reminder of why they should not mess with my precious Didi".
Yuanzhi rested his forehead against his brother's neck, feeling the press of warn skin the thrum of his pulse and smiled. Warmth returning to his skin as his chest heated up at the words. Finally he let himself drift off to sleep. Adrenaline and exhustion taking their dues now that the fight was over. There was no safer place for him than right here in his brother's hold.