Chapter 68: Zen vs Jiahai

It was a blur. They rolled so fast down the mountain that the world of night all around them was just a blur. The only things Zen and Jiahai were sure of was each other, as one boy had instinctively held onto the other as they tipped over and fell, and the pain they were experiencing as they crashed through shrubbery and slid and tumbled over hard and sometimes sharp rock outcrops.

The rolling stopped when they crashed into a flat surface. They both separated, groaning in pain. They both were caked in dirt and their clothes were torn. Zen could feel warm blood cascading down the side of his face and was sure that he had tweaked his knee as placing any weight on it resulted in a sharp pain. Jiahai had not faired any better, spotting a section of pink in his cheek as the skin had been shredded off during the fall.

Zen looked around. It seemed they had landed on a flat section of the mountain. On one side, the mountain sloped up steeply while on the other the slope was gentler. Zen touched his empty shoulder, hoping that Shibi was alright where he was.

Jiahai slowly became aware of Zen.

“Jiahai, it’s okay, it’s just you and me now.” Zen said, once he noticed the other boy look at him.

“Oh?” Jiahai said before spikes erupted from his knuckles.

“No one is here!” Zen said. “You don’t have to do this. I know… I know Bao is forcing you to do this to get back at me.”

“Oh, Xaun Bao did ask me to do this,” Jiahai began, “but I would’ve done it even if he didn’t!” He charged with a fist.

Zen dodged and saw Jiahai’s left, spiked, qi fist pulverize a section of the rock that had been behind him. Jiahai dodged and threw a few more quick jabs, forcing Zen back each time. Zen would glance back, seeing that he was slowly being driven off the flat section of the mountain and onto the downward slope and he did not want to face Jiahai when he had the higher ground.

Zen distanced himself and quickly threw a kick as Jiahai rushed forward to cover the gap. “Stop this, Jiahai!” he shouted as his foot made contact with Jiahai’s crossed arms which blocked the quick and surprising kick.

Because Zen did not pour any qi into the attack, Jiahai was able to stop Jiahai crossed his arms, blocking the quick kick and because Zen poured no qi into the attack, he had no problem in defending it. Jiahai uncrossed his arms and threw a heavy left fist which Zen didged by dashing under it and behind him. Jiahai quickly spun around to cover his exposed back only to see Zen back away.

“Jiahai, please stop this.” Zen said more calmly. “I don’t know why you’d attack me.”

“Are you kidding?”Jiahai snapped in anger, the spikes of qi dying down. “After what you did to me?”

“What did I do?” Zen shouted back. “I saved you from sacrificing yourself for that jackass, Xaun Bao!”

“I was going to do it for my family!” Jiahai foamed in anger. “I told you that my family was declining! If I had taken the blame for Bao, our families would’ve had a partnership.”

“Open your eyes, Chu Jiahai!” Zen spat. “Xaun Bao is a child in this world and a junior in his family. He has no more of a chance to make a partnership between the Xaun and Chu family than I d to make a partnership with the Wangs and anyone else!”

“You don’t know that You don’t! Don’t pain everyone with the same brush as yourself! And besides…!” Jiahai’s voice dropped to normal with his next utterance. “And besides, it was my choice to make and I made it. You meddled with my will. I can forgive you for spying on us for Xu Hao; I can forgive you for being the reason why half of our friends were suspended but I can’t forgive you for belittling and interrupting with my will.”

“I did that only to help you,” Zen said. “I’m sorry.”

The qi spikes on Jiahai’s knuckles flared to life again. “Too late. Defend yourself because I’m not going to hold back.”

Zen clenched his fists in helplessness. He took a breath and stood in a fighting stance.

They charged at each other and met in a flurry of violence. Ever so often, Zen would find an opening or two and would slam a kick or fist into it, forcing Jiahai back. Because they had basically switched positions, this made Jiahai closer to the edge of the flat area. Zen hoped he could force him over it, where he would have more of an advantage. Jiahai was finding it difficult to stop Zen’s momentum. He was quickly discovering that Zen had improved a lot since the last time they sparred a few months ago.

Jiahai leapt up, dodging Zen’s kick, which would have pushed him out of the flat area. Zen also jumped up in an attempt to chase him down. Even with his qi powered jump, Zen could not reach him because of his injured knee. Jiahai began angling down, leading with his knee.

This confused Zen, as it would have made more sense if Jiahai led with one of his qi knuckleduster fists. Zen thrust his palm out, planning on unbalancing Jiahai and throwing him downhill but to his surprise, the end of Jiahai’s knee flared up with qi spikes, much like his knuckles had. Zen had no time to react as the spiked knee as it pushed through his palms and made contact with Zen’s chest, sending him slamming into the ground below. Jiahai made sure to land on the other side of Zen, looking away from his fallen form.

Zen began to stir and sat up only to be met by a donkey kick to the face, which sent him rolling a little ways down the sloping part. He forced himself back onto his feet, looking up at Jaihai, who had gotten the higher ground. Jiahai turned around to look down on him before his other knee also got crowned in qi spikes. He had learned to transfer his knuckleduster ability to his knee, resulting in a much stronger hit than what his fists could deliver. It seemed Zen was not the only one who had improved.