The poison needle shot toward his eyes. His instincts, heightened by spiritual energy, blared warning bells in his head. He tilted his head slightly, but the needle still grazed his ear. His nerves pulsed, and numbness spread through his body. In that instant, he knew he was fucked up.
He had underestimated the men in ninja attire, and they had retaliated with their strongest poison. His head spun, and his limbs refused to respond. Even though their bones were broken, the ninjas quickly reset them, stood up, and advanced toward Li Xinyi.
"Damn," Chaithanya cursed in frustration.
Suddenly, a teenage girl leaped in front of the ninjas, holding wind and fire wheels—Tai Chi weapons—in each hand. Chaithanya immediately sensed something unusual about them. They weren't ordinary weapons; he could clearly feel the spiritual energy pulsing within them. These were spiritual energy–embedded weapons.
She raised her hand and hurled the Tai Chi wheels at lightning speed. "Watch out!" the leader shouted, but before anyone could react, their heads rolled off their shoulders. Chaithanya nearly threw up at the sight, but the numbness in his body spared him that.
He had never killed anyone before, and the sight of headless corpses made him nauseous. He shut his eyes, forcing himself to calm down.
"Sister Xinyi, are you okay?" The teenage girl shook the blood from her weapons, clipped them to the sides of her hips, and rushed to her sister with concern.
Li Xinyi, disturbed by her sister's voice, slowly regained consciousness. Sitting up from her resting position, she looked at the decapitated bodies and sighed helplessly. "Yue-Yue, you're as impulsive as ever. Why didn't you keep at least one of them alive? How are we supposed to find out who hired these assassins now?"
"Sorry, Sister Xinyi," Li Yue said, sticking out her tongue playfully before her expression turned serious. "Those bastards dared to harm you—they deserved to die. I don't care who sent them; we'll find out the culprit eventually."
Li Xinyi sighed again but said nothing more. Her eyes searched around until they landed on Chaithanya, kneeling motionless on the ground. She immediately realized he'd been poisoned.
"Yue-Yue, check their bodies for an antidote. If you find one, give it to him," Li Xinyi instructed, pointing at Chaithanya.
Yue turned to look at him curiously. I've seen him somewhere before… Where was it? she thought as she searched through the bodies. Soon she found a vial of antidote.
"Wait—it's him! The actor Junhao!" she exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Yes, that's him. He's also the one who dented the hood of our Mercedes-Benz," Li Xinyi replied calmly.
"Damn, he's a spiritual energy user too?" Yue said, visibly surprised.
"Yeah, and he saved my life. Now, hurry—give him the antidote," Li Xinyi said anxiously.
"I'm fine. No need for an antidote," Chaithanya said, slowly rising to his feet. His spiritual energy was pure and powerful enough to neutralize any poison.
Both sisters were stunned. They knew how potent the toxin was—it usually took one or two days just to suppress, and at least a week or more to completely purge without assistance.
"This poison is nothing. Anyway, thanks for the concern," Chaithanya said, brushing the dust from his clothes. Both sisters' eyes twitched at his casual tone.
"Your sister's seriously injured; she needs medical attention," Chaithanya added, his gaze momentarily falling on Li Xinyi's chest.
"Hmph, men are never any good," Yue scoffed. "She's a spiritual energy user. Unless the injuries are fatal, she'll recover by nurturing her energy."
Chaithanya smiled awkwardly. "Still, be careful. I won't always be around to protect you."
"Hmph, after what happened today, I dare them to try again," Yue said, folding her arms.
"Junhao, don't mind her. Thank you for saving my life today. I'll repay this debt someday," Li Xinyi said sincerely.
"Ha, don't mention it. Saving beauty is my duty," Chaithanya said with a grin before vanishing from sight.
"He's fast," Yue muttered, frowning.
"He's not just fast—he's strong," Li Xinyi said, gazing in the direction he'd disappeared.
"Why do you think so?" Yue asked, shocked. Her sister rarely praised anyone besides their grandfather.
"Can you stand and move that fast just minutes after being poisoned like that?" Li Xinyi countered with a question instead of an answer.
"Yeah, you're right, but sister, I already warned you that things like this could happen in the future. At least carry your spiritual weapon—it may not make you stronger, but it'll still be helpful in combat," Yue said, looking at her sister.
"Okay, I will carry the spiritual weapon from now on," Li Xinyi said, nodding in acknowledgement.
Moments later, ten sleek cars pulled up. Men in neatly pressed black suits jumped out, guns in hand, and hurried toward the sisters.
"You idiots! You're late again! I'm docking ten percent from your salaries this month!" Yue barked, pointing furiously.
"We accept the punishment, Young Miss," the men said in unison, bowing their heads in shame.
"Hmph, useless," Yue scoffed, then helped Li Xinyi to her feet. One of the men rushed to open the car door for them.
They boarded the cars, which soon drove off in perfect formation.
Meanwhile…
Chaithanya sat atop a nearby building, watching the convoy disappear into the distance when his phone buzzed.
"Hello," he answered.
"Junhao! You ran off again? Where are you now?" Xiuying shouted.
"Hmm? The moon looks beautiful tonight," Chaithanya said calmly.
"What the hell are you talking about?" she yelled back.
"Oh wait—the fish are flying in the sky. Talk later," he said, hanging up with a sigh of relief.
"Fish flying in the sky? What kind of nonsense is he spouting now?" Xiuying muttered, staring at her phone in disbelief.
The next day…
Knock, knock…
"Junhao, can you wake up already?" Xiuying called, knocking on his door.
He slept longer than usual, exhausted from the heavy strain of overusing his spiritual energy the previous day.
After a few minutes, Chaithanya woke up groggily, opened the door, and yawned, his eyes still half-closed with sleep.
Xiuying frowned, stepped closer, and sniffed near his mouth a few times.
Chaithanya tensed up and exclaimed, "Yo, what are you doing? At least tell me before you try to kiss me!"
Xiuying rolled her eyes at his exaggerated reaction and asked, "Did you drink alcohol last night?"