Something Beautiful And Wicked

Present Day: 

Shi Ailin gripped the hilt of her sister's sword. She set her jaw, trying to calculate their odds. It wasn't good. 

Shi Yen was bleeding out. Yuan Shun was busy handling his brother, and she was facing her uncle and his henchmen alone. He had the Tiger Organization, the Tortoises, and the Lion Organization by his side. 

Where the hell was her squad? Shi Ailin thought. She knew Shi Yen and Yuan Shun wouldn't have come alone. 

The woman next to Shi Ma was the first to take a step forward, but Shi Ma held her back. "It's all right, Genji. She's no threat," he raised a hand to his team. "No one interferes. She's already at a disadvantage." 

He's wrong, she thought. Shi Ailin knew that Shi Ma was calculative and strategic; it's what their family was good at. He uses other people like chess pieces to plan out his moves carefully. Most likely, he had already planned dozens of ways to kill her in his mind, some fast and painless, others slow and agonizing. But Shi Ma was at the real disadvantage. 

Most likely, Shi Ma thought she had picked up the sword as a defence, believing she was incapable of wielding it. But he doesn't know about her martial arts training. No one knows, save for her sister and parents. Not even Luo Wanting knew. 

Her father encouraged her to learn as a child to defeat her timidity and shyness. It half-worked, but she was also able to acquire similar physical skills to her sister. Master Wong focused on her before he trained Shi Yen. But unlike Shi Yen, Shi Ailin didn't join any clubs or showed off her skills, as advised by her father. 

She once asked him why she wasn't allowed to show off. He said that because she looked like a gazelle with the heart of a Lioness, she could use it as an advantage. Her sister, on the other hand, was a Lioness inside and out. Therefore, people had expectations for her, but not for Shi Ailin. So, she was able to hunt in the background, stealthily and patiently, waiting to be needed. 

Shi Ma picked up Yuan Ning's fallen weapon. He looked at her with a serpent smile crossing his face. 

Shi Ailin narrowed her eyes, observing him. He then started running up to her, and Shi Ailin lifted her blade, and they clashed. Her eyes met his fiercely, refusing to lower her guard. She twisted his sword with hers, knocking his face with her elbow. She kicked his leg, and he staggered, looking for balance. 

He then backed away, eyes wide, and he stared at her hard with gritted teeth. 

"Master Wong trained you?" he questioned as he analyzed her. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I know all his moves." 

Shi Ailin knitted her brows. "That doesn't matter either," she countered his next attack by bowing her head, allowing his sword to swing past her head. She then kicked him at the side of his torso, and he clenched his jaw. "If you know our moves, you still can't predict what I'll do next," she said as she lunged forward. He countered, but she whirled quickly, misleading him. She grazed his t.h.i.g.h, cutting through sinew and skin. 

He grabbed the side of his t.h.i.g.h, breathing hard. His twisted face then turned into a smile, and he roared a laugh. He pointed at her with the tip of his blade. "Oh, little Ai. I misjudged you," he said with amus.e.m.e.nt. It didn't sit well with her. 

He then straightened as if he didn't feel pain, as if she didn't slice through his leg. He lowered his sword, the tip kissing the concrete. He closed his eyes to think, to plan. Shi Ailin trembled. She'd seen that look once before, and it didn't end well. 

He still couldn't predict what she would do, so it only meant that he was planning to throw many attacks at her, at once, so she stood her ground. 

When Shi Ma opened his eyes, that was when the real fight began. 

…

He swung to punch Yuan Ning again when he caught his wrist, gripping him hard. "Get away from me, little brother. I have to finish what I came here to do." 

Yuan Shun's face twisted with half-anger and half-despair. "If you want to get to my wife, you have to get through me first. But I won't let you harm her more than I was forced to watch." 

Yuan Ning widened his eyes, but then he lowered them. "I'm sorry," he said, moving his legs to flip Yuan Shun over. Yuan Shun toppled over the floor, rising immediately. He watched his brother, and Yuan Ning launched himself forward. Yuan Shun countered by blocking his attack with his arms. 

Neither of them had weapons, so they relied on brute strength. Yuan Ning swung, and Yuan Shun dodged. He whirled and swung his arm, hitting Yuan Ning's gut forcefully. "Don't make me choose between you two!" Yuan Shun said through clenched teeth. 

Yuan Ning kept attacking, his expression hollow and devoid, almost as if all remnants of his brother, the brother he looked up to and admired, was gone. 

"Why did you abandon us?" Yuan Shun asked. Yuan Ning kicked him. 

"Do we not mean anything to you?" He asked another question. 

Yuan Ning's reserved expression began to dissolve. Yuan Shun realized his words were getting to him. "If not me, what about Xinyi and mother? Do you not care about them? They miss you." 

Yuan Ning gritted his teeth, recoiling at the reminder. Yuan Shun was growing more frustrated. He sprinted forward, grabbing Yuan Ning and shoving him against a wall. He punched him in the c.h.e.s.t, knocking the air from him. 

"Why did you leave us?" he asked with a shaky voice. 

Yuan Ning coughed more blood. "I needed to…sever our ties." 

"Why?" Yuan Shun's voice rose, "Why?"

Yuan Ning frowned distantly. "You, Xinyi, and mother would only have gotten in my way. You are my weakness, Shun. To become the Emperor, to get my revenge, I needed to kill what was left of me, all of it. That included you." 

Yuan Shun shook him, trying to knock some sense into him. "Why are you so intent with being Emperor. Why do you want to kill Shi Yen?" 

"She killed Qin Li," he said. "I want to shape the Underworld so that no one else would have to suffer what the Empress did to me." 

Yuan Shun paused for a moment. This was about Qin Li? Yuan Shun frowned. He remembered how devastated Yuan Ning was. In fact, Yuan Shun knew that some part of Yuan Ning died with her. He'd never been the same since, and Yuan Shun always wished he was able to help him, but he couldn't reach him. 

"I don't have proof," Yuan Shun said. "But I don't believe Shi Yen would execute a heavily pregnant and innocent woman, no matter our Underworld customs." 

Yuan Ning didn't respond. 

"Ning," Yuan Shun said. "As someone that knows how it feels to lose someone precious to them, don't do this. Join me—Join us." He lifted a hand, gesturing to Shi Yen who was pale and weak, but still awake and breathing. She smiled weakly. "Join us," she breathed. 

Shi Ailin had come from the side, deflecting Shi Ma's moves. "Join us! We can use the help!" 

Yuan Ning glanced at each of them, contemplating it. 

"Kill them!" Shi Ma encouraged him. 

Yuan Ning gritted his teeth. That Shi Ma was really starting to piss him off. He was always trying to control him, and that was something he hated. 

He looked at his brother, who had grown to be stronger than him in every way possible. He glanced at Shi Yen, trusting his brother's word. 

"I have decided to help you," he said.

Yuan Shun smiled, and he embraced his brother. 

Shi Ma's eyes widened. "Genji, go get him!" 

Genji scowled at him. "I don't think so," she said to Shi Ma, walking up to Yuan Ning and Yuan Shun. "I want to join your side, too. I hate that f.u.c.k.i.n.g bastard." 

Yuan Ning looked at her with a surprised expression, and she smiled. "Don't get c.o.c.ky. I still don't like you, Ning. But your brother has a point. It was Shi Ma that killed your fiancée. He used you to get what he wanted. You were the perfect piece of his game of chess." 

Yuan Ning clenched his fists, registering the confirmation he needed. He looked at her. "Why are you helping us?" he asked. 

"I hate Shi Ma," she admitted, "And besides, our teams are now even." Genji whistled, and then half of Shi Ma's henchmen divided. "I'm the Tiger Queen," she said to them. "Some of them listen to me." 

Yuan Shun smiled ecstatically. "Thank you," he said and bowed to her. 

"You have such a cute brother," she said to Yuan Ning. "Don't f.u.c.k up again." 

Yuan Ning smirked. "I don't want to. Not again." 

Genji took to his side. "Now. Let's make sure we take them all out."

"I'd love to," he replied.