The door swung open with a loud creak, arousing me from my dazed state. The two idiots were still knocked out cold but I’m not complaining. Less work to do equals to a happy Cassandra. Happy Cassandra might be lenient. Although, looking at Levy’s half-sober face made her blood boil once more. Whatever beef this friend of his has with Mr. Huang, he shouldn’t have gotten involved the second he knew that she was going to get roped in.
Mr. Huang casted an indifferent look towards the tied men and strolled inside the cabin. He brought with him a basket full of fruits and what looked like meat. For a moment, all thoughts about Levy vanished and my mouth watered at the thought of meat. I didn’t know how much I craved eating something until I saw the fruits brought into my line of sight.
It didn’t even occur to me that Mr. Huang looked too calm when he saw the tied fools until later on. I mean, come on, two people tied together in your living space, the normal reaction would to scream bloody murder.
Well, maybe you won’t if you’re a professional fighter. You’d probably chop them in half with your bare hands or something. I definitely could see Mr. Huang doing that bit. He took his groceries into the kitchen and although I wanted to follow him, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving these two unguarded; no matter how confident I was with my rope-tying skills. So I waited for him to get back.
Mr. Huang was one of those people who are very nice to others and rarely loses it. He’s just really patient. But when he does blow up, my brother used to say that even Cerberus would tuck its tail between its hind legs and scurry off. I never thought that I would live to see that day considering Mr. Huang’s isolated living circumstances.
He came back from the kitchen, his face not giving anything off, scaring the crap out of me. I didn’t like not being able to read people. I got really good at it since I was a kid. From facial expressions, I tried to teach myself to notice the shifts in people's body language that could give away hints on what the person was about to do or what they were feeling.
Mr. Huang, though, was not an easy subject to read. His facial expression ranges between being murderous and calm. I couldn’t tell what he was about to do but what I've picked up from past experiences was that the man was a ticking time bomb.
He could blow up anytime now or much later, I couldn’t fell but not soon after that, I got my answer soon after.
With a loud crack from skin slapping skin, Levy finally roused from his slumber. In a way, I was relieved that Mr. Huang had hit him first. I’m sure I don't think I had it in me to beat him up myself.
Whatever mistakes he had committed, he had been my friend.
I would've ended up hurting myself more than I hurt him. It would not have been a pleasant experience to endure.
A grunt came out of Levy’s friend as Mr. Huang delivered a well-measured kick onto the man’s torso. I knew it must’ve taken great self-control to not let his foot cause internal bleeding in the man.
“帮我拿冰水. (Bring me some ice water)” Mr. Huang ordered without looking away from the 2 sprawled men. I let my legs lead me to the fridge and took the water jug of freezing cold water.
I handed it over to Mr. Huang and quickly took a step back, keeping a safe distance in case he had used up all his self-control. I hope it doesn't happen but there’s no harm in bracing yourself for the worst.
Without further hesitation, Mr. Huang poured the contents of the jug over the two tied men who instantly regained their consciousness through a series of breathless gasps and heaving. I could see their body shivering vigorously and I was almost able to feel the way the cold liquid seeped through their clothes and onto their skin.
I couldn’t imagine waking up like that. I could see their bodies trembling generate heat but they couldn’t do anything but shake since they were still bound by the rope. Mr. Huang crouched to level them and gripped the stranger’s collar. “Why have you come? I thought you understood what I meant by not wanting to see you ever again.”
The man had enough stupidity to force out a chuckle through his heavy breathing. If he tries to wriggle his way out, the ropes would dig into his skin even further than it already has. It was an unnecessary pain to go through.
“And I was pretty sure I left with a promise to come back here and beat your ass, old man. I’m simply holding on to that promise.” His gaze flickered to me. Mr. Huang stoad up and blocked the stranger’s view of me.
“I’m pretty sure that we haven’t been introduced yet, young lady. Come on, don’t be shy.” There was a slyness to his tone that made me wary.
“What do you want, Klovski?” Mr. Huang sighed out as he looked at the two men tied up in his cabin irritably.
Klovski clucked at him and shook his head in mock disappointment.
“The second that I heard there was someone visiting you, I remembered that it’s been too long since I paid you any visit. So, I thought why not. You know what I want, old man.” His lips morphed into a twisted grin. Mr. Huang made a disapproving of sound from his throat.
“Well you won’t be getting it.” Mr. Huang said dismissively. I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to stop my stomach from continuously churning. Uneasiness was a vast understatement of what I was feeling.
Once again, Klovski seemed to sense my troubled vibe and turned his focus towards me.
“Tell me, little girl; why do you seem so familiar?” Mr. Huang’s final warning echoed through the cabin as he snapped at the man to shut his pie hole.
“What? Scared that she won’t be up for it?” The challenge in his tone was clear and it ticked me off. Who the hell did he think he was, acting almighty?
Throughout the whole conversation, Levy didn’t make a single noise. He simply sat there, staring at the wall opposite of him. He was clearly listening but he glued his eyes to the wall. It was a smart move because one look at my face, and he’d know that he was a dead man if he made a single wrong move.
I was counting on my patience that was running thin by the second. The conversation both men were in was too vague for me to understand anything. What does this man want from Mr. Huang and what does Levy has to do with any of it? If he was a man sent here by Dom, I will maul Dom dead. Not Lev. I’ll probably try drowning Lev but Dom? No.
Fuck Dom.
I’ve had enough of that guy flipping my life upside down over and over again.
I never thought I could be sick of anyone but Dom just surpassed every line I’ve drawn for the worst person alive. If Lev was one of the man he sent to spy on me, I don’t think I could trust anyone anymore. And I’m aware that that’s going to make things even harder than they already are. Everyone in this world should know better than to walk down this road on their own.
Mr. Huang didn’t answer the last question thrown by the strange man and that’s when I couldn’t bite my tongue hard enough anymore.
“What is he talking about?” I asked Mr. Huang. But of course, he was temporarily deaf just for that 3 seconds. However, Klovski or whatever his name was heard every word I said clearly and didn’t seem to want to miss that chance to have a conversation with me.
“Oh to set up a duel for you, of course. It’s tradition.” His smirk grated my nerves.
“And who will I need to fight against?”
“Me.” I turned to look at Levy who looked away after deciding to join the conversation.
Well look at the bright side, this sounds like it has nothing to do with Dom. I won’t need to worry about Levy being an associate of Dom’s. That’s a huge relief.
Now to think about fighting him. He’s twice my size and a friend. I can’t injure him fatally but I’ll lose up on stamina pretty quickly if I try to take him down without hurting him. I wouldn’t be able to use any other techniques that I used on my other opponents unless I want to injure Levy in a horrid way. But before I could take them up on that duel, a question popped into my head.
“If that’s all you wanted, why didn’t you just knock like normal people and have a chat about it instead of breaking in and do God knows what to Mr. Huang?” They exchanged a look at my question.
“Just untie us and let’s have that chat, alright?”
“That’s enough!” Mr. Huang’s yell made my heart skip a beat from shock.
“I will not agree to this. Where is your pride? You’ve tried this before and you’ve lost countless of times against my apprentices. When will you admit that you’ve lost?” He almost sounded desperate but everyone could hear his frustration in the last question. I could tell that he didn’t like whatever Klovski is suggesting but why?
“You’ve never been so defensive, old man. What’s with this little girl that makes her different from all the other apprentices? What are you so scared of? Aren’t you confident in your own teaching skills?” A vein bulged in Mr. Huang’s neck and I could see his jaw muscle tick.
After a while of silence and fighting a wave of hesitation, I finally gathered enough courage to speak up and take up the challenge. I walked up to Mr. Huang’s side and laid a hand onto his shoulder. “It’s alright, Shi Fu. I’ll fight him in your name and I’ll win.”
“On one condition,” I added, turning around to face Klovski. “I will be the last. No more stupid traditions. You will leave Mr. Huang alone in peace.”
After five seconds of silence, Klovski nodded and squirmed a bit to remind us of the bonds that tied him down. I rolled my eyes but walked to their side after Mr. Huang gave me the permission to untie them.
“We’ll be back at noon tomorrow. Be ready.”
It was all Klovski said before stepping outside the cabin and leaving with Lev trailing behind him.
“Listen, Case. I know that the man is your friend, but you cannot trust him. I’ve only known Klovski’s apprentices to be a part of the gang he’s in. I know you don’t want to believe this but it is more likely than not that your friend is part of the gang that Klovski is in. Be careful.”
My eyebrows came knitted together. Levy? It can’t be what I think it is, right? Could it be Quentin’s gang? Has Levy been keeping an eye on me for Quentin?
Before I could ask Mr. Huang any questions, Mr. Huang shook his head.
“Let’s save the question for tomorrow. Tonight, you need to rest. Tomorrow will not be a walk in the park.”
With that, I watched as my teacher walk away.
My chest burning with unanswered questions that kept me up late at night until I finally drifted to sleep.