Tibetan Trouble
Offering her no words of comfort, you boot a surprised Xiaofang off the stage and head for Zhang Manxing. As you approach, he gives you a hateful glare, raising his fists. You trade only two blows before you successfully grab him by the neck. Evidently he is not used to fighting while injured, as you can see him constantly wincing from the injury to his ear. As he shouts bloody curses at you, you throw him out of the arena so that he can join the servant girl.
Then, you turn your attention towards the monk and the bandit, who are still locked in battle. Yunzi calls out to you to get your attention, but all you do is give her a grin before you join the fight.
Plunging in, you drop to the ground and make a sweep with your leg. Pang Xiaohu lets out a shout as he hops away from your attack, but you manage to catch Xuxian and bring him tumbling to the floor. Turning, you immediately launch a strong upwards kick at Pang. He attempts to block, but the force of your kick knocks his large body away. “Wait, I do not want to fight you right now, master-“ Xuxian gets to his feet, trying to get you to stop, but you strike downwards at him with the Raging Claws of the Mad Lion. “Don’t worry about it and just enjoy the fight,” you say. Frowning, Xuxian steels his body, raising a palm to counter your attack. Your qi-enhanced strike tears up the wooden boards underneath Xuxian’s feet, but in the instant that his palm hits your claw you feel a vast, boundless qi resisting you, throwing you back before you have the presence of mind to begin absorbing his strength. Sensing an attack coming up from behind you, you narrowly dodge the deadly axes of the Little Tiger.
“Now this is more like it!” With a laugh, he comes after you, swinging his axes so furiously that you barely have any time to block. Putting some distance between you and the bandit, you unleash your silk threads, tangling him up in it as he shouts in frustration. Xuxian acts before you can strike: the monk extends his pinky finger forward, pointing at Pang Xiaohu. A piercing lance of qi shoots forth, almost tangible to the naked eye. It penetrates the bandit’s thigh, bringing him down as if he had been stabbed with a real sword. Moving towards you, he swings his hand and jabs his index finger at you.
“Stupid Xu Jing, don’t gawk!” Yunzi lands on Xuxian’s hand, forcing it down. His finger technique blasts a clear hole in the wood – that would have hurt a lot had it landed. “I would have dodged it!” you shout back. As the girl jumps lightly to your side, she strikes out at you without warning. Of course, you were expecting it. You block and retaliate. Ducking and weaving through each other’s attacks, the two of you engage in a brief but rapid exchange of moves. She is faster than before, but so are you. “Is that all you have to show me?” you mock her, pushing her back with a powerful claw strike that she is forced to take to the air to avoid. “If you really want to see something impressive, then just wait for a second,” Yunzi responds confidently.
Just as you are about to leap after her, Pang Xiaohu returns to the battle, having cut his way free of the silk. He hurls one of his axes at you, shouting. As the weapon spins through the air, you knock it away with your scabbard. It arcs into the sky. Pang catches it with ease, swiftly pouncing towards you with a battle-cry. Xuxian intercepts him before he arrives, burying his fist in the bandit’s side in a demonstration of the Shaolin Luohan Fist (羅漢拳, Arhat Fist). His blow only manages to drive Pang back two steps. The Little Tiger grins fiercely, but you wipe that off his face with a well-aimed kick to the neck. As you land, you strike at a perplexed Xuxian, who does not seem to know whose side you are on. The monk’s attacks are powerful but not very skilled – it is mainly his finger technique that you have to watch out for, and he seems unable to use it properly when on the defense. Your aggressive onslaught causes Xuxian to retreat in alarm. Yunzi darts in behind him, tripping up the monk before continuing to attack you.
"Daxuanwo Tiger Axes (大漩渦虎斧, Great Maelstrom Tiger Axes)!" Pang Xiaohu roars, and spins around in a destructive whirlwind of axe blades, charging towards her. Smiling, Yunzi grabs you and swings you about in a flurry of fancy footwork, as if in a dance.
The both of you exchange places, leaving you to face Pang’s whirling axes.
You scowl, draw your wodao, and leap forward, right into the path of his attack. Executing the form of the Vermillion Pheasant, you strike out at his axes in quick succession. Your powerful slashes knock away his swings, negating his attack entirely. As Pang Xiaohu falls back, surprised yet pleased, you turn to face Yunzi. She is no longer behind you, however: Xuxian is. He jabs at you with his middle finger, from a distance away. As the powerful qi attack rushes towards you, you bring your sword up. With a shout, you bat it away, deflecting the energy with your sword more on sheer reflex than any controlled effort.
Xuxian’s mouth gapes open in surprise. “T-that’s impossible!”
“Well, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that,” you say, ducking a swing from Pang Xiaohu. You call out to the bandit in frustration, “Look, do you have a problem with me?”
“Of course not! I’m just excited about fighting you! You’re famous, y’know?” he says simply, throwing a punch at you.
“Better get in line, friend.” You meet his large fist with your own. Though he is a much taller man, with bulging muscles, your strength is able to match his. As the two of you break apart, Yunzi appears again, little fiery sparks seemingly swirling around her wrists as she dashes towards you while keeping low to the ground. Grinning up at you, she strikes, bringing her palms together in a forward thrust. She is too quick for you to dodge fully; your sleeve is caught by her attack and bursts into flames. You tear it off quickly, throwing the burning cloth to the floor. While you are distracted, Yunzi has taken up a stance: open left palm facing the sky, closed right fist pointed towards the earth. “Here, you wanted to see something good, right?”
Xsaora Vairya’s most powerful technique.
You laugh, slightly nervous. “H-hey, are you sure you should show that off here-“
She breathes in deeply, and vanishes from your sight with a loud bang, leaving behind broken planks where she once stood.
Your senses scream at you to move, and you do, attempting to get away.
The next thing you feel is a powerful force tossing you aside. Yunzi’s arm grazes your side in a strike delivered with just a single palm. Her other arm is stretched out behind her, still firmly closed in the shape of a fist. As you tumble to the floor, you grasp the strength of the move – even with her slender frame, Yunzi would have easily delivered enough power in her blow to knock you off the stage. It was only your pure instinct that prevented that from happening. You cannot help but laugh in admiration: this is something impressive that she has shown you… and you think that it is not even the full technique. She looks at you with a rather condescending smirk. You’ll get her back for this.
Before you can get to your feet, Pang Xiaohu looms over you from behind. “Watch out!” Jixuan Wuni leaps in, finally getting involved in a fight that he should know is above his level. He blocks Pang’s axes with the chakrams on his forearms, and with a shout of effort he pushes the bandit back. The Little Tiger is not one to give up so easily, however. Regaining his footing, his hands blur in a deft, intricate pattern, swinging the axes so fast that Jixuan Wuni is hardly able to predict where they would land next. Lashing out, he strikes at Pang’s hands, managing to block swing after swing. You get up, preparing to team up on the bandit together with Jixuan Wuni.
Suddenly, Pang crouches and lashes out with his foot, breaking the pattern. He is aiming for Jixuan Wuni’s crotch, and he hits it, causing the Tibetan to squeeze his legs together and make a strangled yelp of pain. Swivelling around, he chops down at Jixuan’s shoulder with his axe.
You can make it in time.
You kick at his hand, aiming to disarm Pang of the offending axe. You suddenly realize Yunzi has come to your side, doing the same. Surprise begins to form on her face: it seems that neither of you had expected the other to make an identical move. Xuxian is standing off to the side, wide-eyed, with a finger outstretched.
Your foot lands a direct hit on Pang’s hand at the same time that Yunzi does. The big man finally lets out a cry of pain as the axe is kicked away and hit by Xuxian’s qi. The force of your kicks and the monk’s finger technique sends the weapon blasting off the stage like an arrow shot from a bow.
And like an arrow, it finds something to hit.
There is a scream and a gurgle.
And then, more screams.
“...son of a mountain goat indeed,” you murmur, staring at the sight of Prince Tenzin, still sitting where you had last seen him, surrounded by ministers, with the axe buried deep in his chest.
“Oh dear,” says Yunzi.
“Cockshit,” curses Pang Xiaohu.
“Namu Amitabha, Namu Amitabha….” prays Xuxian in a panic.
Jixuan Wuni watches silently, not saying a word. His expression is frozen.
The soldiers are running into the square. The crowd is screaming and shouting from the stands and the buildings.
“I suppose the tournament is over, then?” you ask, to no one in particular, and no one responds.
***
A. You make a run for it. You don’t think it would be a good idea to stick around. People usually don’t take kindly to seeing a beloved ruler die in front of their eyes, whether it was an accident or not. They’ll be looking for someone to blame, and you’re not about to stay here and find out whether you will be the scapegoat. It’s time to get back to the Central Plains – you’re not going to linger around Tufan territory anymore.
1. You try to convince Yunzi to come with you. Having her running to the Central Plains instead of back to the Temple may be a good way to shift any blame off of her organization. That, and you think she needs a break from them.
2. You do not ask Yunzi to come with you. Now that the Fire Cult’s patron prince is dead, she might be more needed with the Temple. Besides, if you take her away like that, you are rather sure the Amesha Spenta might come for you.
B. You stay and try to explain things properly. It was just an accident; everyone should have seen that. Since the Prince is just about dead, Princess Rinchen and her future spouse should be next in line to rule in the next few seconds. That means Jixuan Wuni should have a very, very good chance of becoming the Prince Consort, and if you play things right, you should be able to get out of this without any further nasty relationship problems with the Tufan. Hopefully.
1. You get Cao'er down here to see if she can heal the prince. It might work.
2. You don't call for Cao'er. You don't want her anywhere near this mess.