Power Up, Artist Yang!

In the darkness, there was a man pushing himself up on a girl. It was not a scene of love and affection— the girl was struggling, so obviously saying, over and over again, "No— stop—", but her words were slurred, her voice weak. 

The man only replied, "Shut up. You're not even the right person. Stop moving so much, will you?" and he continued, his hands fumbling all over her.

Upon taking all of this in, Yujia couldn't think twice about her actions. This wasn't the modern era. She couldn't dial 110, couldn't call the police. So, she did the only thing she could possibly do.

She grabbed the widest, unchopped log of wood that she could find, rushing forward and bringing it down onto the head of the man.

He crumpled to the ground.

Yujia's hands were shaking, eyes glancing at the body on the floor before sliding her gaze back over to the girl. She knelt down, getting a good look at the girl's face through the moonlight. She knew this girl.

It was none other than Lianye.

Lianye's stare was unfocused, her skin flushed, but she seemed to recognize Yujia. Tears were pricking at the corners of her eyes. "Sister Ling— save me—" 

Eyes widening, Yujia turned around. If this was Lianye, then the man…

He was standing now. Maybe Yujia didn't hit him hard enough. Yet she couldn't think about that now, since he had already reached over to grab an axe. 

Yujia didn't even realize that there was an axe nearby. It was too dark to notice specific items in the shadow from just a glance. One would have to be familiar with the environment to locate items so easily like that, and there was only one person who knew these surroundings well. He was the person who worked here daily, chopping wood. He was the young man who Yujia used to greet daily, and return his bright grin with a smile of her own. 

He was the person looming over her right now, axe in his hand, cold moonlight glinting off his face.

"Brother" A'Yan.

Yujia felt a wave of nausea. She leapt up, grabbing at Lianye and dragging the young girl up. Lianye could barely move. Yujia only managed to pull the girl away just in time, before with a growl from his throat, A'Yan's hands swung the axe and broke through the wooden wall, splintering the wood with a loud crash.

It was going to be her neck in that spot a few seconds ago. It was going to be her neck that he was driving his axe through.

Stumbling a few feet backwards, Yujia tried to put as much distance as she could between her and A'Yan. She tried to keep Lianye safe as well, letting the girl slouch on her, but the girl was impairing her movements too much. Yujia was incapable of carrying a person and keeping herself nimble at the same time.

A'Yan moved forward, pulling his axe, which was lodged, out of the wall and raising it in the air, ready to strike again. 

Within a second, Yujia drew the dagger out of her sleeve, raising it and pointing it at him. "Don't come closer!" she threatened, noticing a slight tremble in her voice. Raising her volume to mask the tremble, she continued, "If you take another step, even if you manage to axe me in the neck, I will simultaneously stab you. And then, you and I will both bleed out to death here."

His movement paused. A'Yan slowly set the axe in his hand down, his gaze clearing. The dangerous glint in his eyes vanished, replaced by a twisted smile across his face. What was once a smile Yujia regarded with warmth was now a smile that looked more menacing than ever.

"Oh, so it was Ling'er. I was wondering who struck me across my head like that." He raised his hand to the back of his skull, rubbing it.

Yujia needed to think of a way to get out of this situation. If she screamed for help right now, would anyone be able to hear her?

She needed time. Time to think about what to do. Time to figure out how to save Lianye and escape safely.

"You—" she yelled, "I never thought you were this kind of person!" 

For now, she had to distract him with a conversation. She hoped that by speaking loudly, hopefully someone would hear.

"What do you mean?" A'Yan was still smiling. "Ling'er, am I not still Brother A'Yan?"

No. He wasn't. She wanted to tell him that he was a monster. She wanted to tell him that he was worse than human scum. Yet agitating him was probably not a good idea.

She decided to say, "Lianye just turned fifteen. She's a child. Yet you— you— why would you do that?" 

"It wasn't supposed to be her. But you just happened to disappear halfway through the festival. So, maybe you were the reason for why this happened to innocent little Lianye." He chuckled. Yujia realized the meaning behind his words and felt more nauseous than ever. Then, his smile dropped in a split second, replaced with a heavy sigh. "If you were going to disappear, couldn't you have just disappeared the entire time? I didn't even get to have my fun yet before you interrupted things."

She took another step back. He took another step closer.

"Put down the knife, Ling'er. You won't stab me. I know you won't," he cooed, eyebrows lifted.

Her hands were still trembling. Yujia could still feel them shaking, but she wouldn't let that drop her dagger. The blade was the only thing lying between her and that man now. 

"Who says I won't?" she declared. 

Assuredly, he replied, "You don't have it in you to do something like that. I know you well."

"Well then, maybe you don't know me as well as you'd like to think." She put on a smile now, an icy one that she hoped would cover up all her doubts.

Was he right? Would she really be incapable of stabbing him? 

She didn't think so. If anything, she really wanted to drive this knife through his throat right now. She just wasn't certain about her capabilities when he held a weapon with a much larger range. That was the doubt she wanted to cover.

Disregarding her words, A'Yan raised his axe in the air again. "I wanted to talk things out and maybe have some fun with you too, but seeing that you're unwilling to cooperate, I can't have you ruining my reputation around the villa," he mused. "You'll have to go."

Yujia brought her knife closer now. The sound of her heartbeat pulsed in her ear. She could foresee it all happening— his axe would swing downwards with a swoop. She would push Lianye aside and duck, aiming for the artery in the leg that Chef Hong taught her about. And then… and then, she would see how things would go from there.

But that didn't happen. 

The moment the axe almost came down on her, the moment where Yujia was prepared to stab someone for the first time in her life, the loud sound of something cracking echoed through the air. A'Yan suddenly froze. He crumpled to the floor, just like before, but this time, he stayed there.

Standing behind him, a long plank of wood still raised in the air, was Xie Yufeng. She looked at the body on the floor with distaste, then looked up at Yujia, an expression of distaste on her face. 

"I knew he was nothing good from the start," she scoffed.