A Different Perspective

Xiao watched as a frightened Yijin rose from his chair in the classroom and gave an excuse of having to go to the communal bathroom. The substitute teacher's eerie grin gave Xiao chills. Something was off about this man. He wasn't like any other normal substitute teacher. There had to be some sort of ulterior motive in here. Only to confirm Xiao's suspicions, the alleged part-time educator came up with an excuse and gave a bullshit number of a page that the class had already studied before to study once again.

He spoke and mentioned that he was going to the bathrooms as well. Xiao's eyes widened. This man had either done something to Yijin or was about to do something to Yijin. As the man left the classroom, Xiao rose from his chair. It was his fault that Yijin was noticed in the first place. He walked to the classroom door and hushed everyone behind him. It did attract a lot of unwanted attention to himself, but nonetheless, he cracked open the door and peered through the gap.

He saw something he had never seen before. Flash steps... and a lot of them. Who was moving at that speed? It occurred to him. The substitute teacher. The teacher raced past the teacher's lounge, only to return and jiggle the knob a few times. A true sub would have had the key to the lounge. He paced in place and made his footsteps sound fainter before opening the door. Someone had been holding it in place. The door shut behind him and Xiao was completely in suspense.

What exactly was going on? Where was Yijin? Xiao opened the door from his homeroom classroom and quietly snuck up to the teacher's lounge. Bashing was going on from within and clanging of metal that sounded almost like swords crossing paths. Shouts and discussion could be heard from within. A faint voice could be heard. Yijin. Xiao put his hands on the windowsill of the door and looked through the blinds. They had been chopped diagonally and as such, there was a gap where he could see clearly into the staff lounge.

Inside stood Yijin, covered in red stains and holding a knife in hand. The substitute teacher was on his knees with something jammed in his lateral jugular and bleeding profusely. Yijin did not notice Xiao looking in on him.

In one corner of the room, the homeroom teacher cowered in fear with his hands covering his face. It was at this moment that Xiao saw two shapes coming in the direction of the window. A crash was heard and glass shattered everywhere. Tiny bits and pieces slashed and jammed themselves into Yijin's body as Xiao stood watching behind the secure, metal door.

Yijin looked at the two oncoming assailants and suddenly made a mad dash for the door where Xiao was standing. Xiao hid himself to the side of the door with hinges and watched as the metallic door flung open like a feather and Yijin's footsteps could be heard. They paced like a machine gun firing bullets as he sprinted off in the direction of the Western Stairwell. Behind him followed more footsteps, the assailants. Xiao watched from one side of the open door.

There were two men wearing pitch black cloaks and looking almost like beggars from the medieval times. Their heads were covered in black shawls and their faces covered with black cloth. They held swords in their hands. Two swords that Xiao had only read about in stories, but knew better than anyone else in the entire province. They were Korean Sainchamsageoms, glistening in the reflected sunlight from outside. Xiao hid himself again.

"What the f***?!" He whispered quietly in confusion to himself. "Who the f*** are these people and why are they chasing after Yijin?" He started to breathe heavily in fear. He entered the teacher's lounge quietly and shut the door behind him. "Mister Sang! Mister Sang, are you alright?" He whispered to the cowering teacher in the corner. Sang looked up.

"Xiao? What are you doing here? It's dangerous. Get out while you still can, foolish kid! I'm scared out of my wits don't you see?" He covered his face again and whimpered. Xiao approached him. "Mister Sang, come on. We have to get out of here." Xiao whispered again. Sang pulled his hands from his face and looked up suddenly in fear to behind Xiao.

In the reflection of his pupils, Xiao saw a figure with a raised sword aiming to bring it down. "F***!" Xiao shouted and leaped to one side as the sword slammed downwards and made impact on Sang instead of Xiao. "Shit! Mister Sang!" Sang shouted in pain as blood rushed from his left upper pectoral. The assailant retracted his blade and ran it across Sang's throat in an instant.

Sang fell to one side, bleeding profusely and with tears running down his face. With his last breath, he mouthed the word "Run."

Xiao rose from the ground and ran to the door, but it was too late. The man stood at the entryway and pulled his mask downwards. There were no cameras in the teacher's lounge and as such he took full advantage to inflict as much fear as he could upon Xiao. There had been three assailants.

Xiao looked around for an escape path. Not one feasible option to run. The assailant now stepped forward with a menacing, sadistic grin on his face. Blood was spattered across the scarred young man's visage. He stared at Xiao with a singular objective in mind. Absolute mutilation. Xiao suddenly saw something. His only chance. Something to attempt. He dropped on his back,

"For The Gods sakes! I'm begging you! Please don't kill me! Please!" He shouted in fear, his eyes welled with tears. The assailant looked at him with an expression of satisfaction.

"That's it, boy. Beg. Beg for your life in front of the ones stronger than you. All you are is a worm. A spineless little wretch without a single shred of dignity. I'll make you feel what the difference is between you and me." The assailant spoke with a voice that conveyed a sense of pure intimidation.

Animalistic rage overtook the assailant as he lunged forward at Xiao. Xiao's expression changed from fear to relief. He clutched the scissor blade that had been dropped by Yijin only moments ago and dodged to one side. He slammed his blade directly into the assailant's eye and pushed all his weight into the stab. It was his one chance. A one hit kill.

A loud, prolonged shriek of agony came from the assailant's mouth as Xiao pushed his body on top of the assailant and retracted the blade. He rapidly stabbed ten times into the assailant's upper body. "Die! You monster! Die!" On the final strike he let himself collapse to one side of the deceased assailant. Xiao's bloodied hands shook as he suddenly looked down at his thigh.

A sainchamsageom was impaled in his skin. It was not too deep however, but was in an incredibly precarious place. Xiao shouted in fear and ripped off the assailant's shawl. He quickly fashioned a makeshift tourniquet from the shawl and tied it tightly around the wound.

Xiao rose from the ground and held the tourniquet in place as he limped off, leaving a trail of blood on his way out.

The third assailant of the four was returning from checking the stairwell. He told his subordinate to check behind him as he checked further on. The assailant walked on. "Damn Xifang. I can't believe he let himself get killed by that little shit." He walked on and suddenly saw the trail of blood leading from the teacher's lounge. "Ha! I got you now you little son of a bitch."

He started to follow the blood on the ground until a loud crack was heard behind him. He attempted to whirl around but it was already too late, Yijin's blade plunged into the assailant's body as he made a weak groan of pain. Yijin pulled the blade from the man's body and stood up.

"I really hate Falling Lotus Petals now. This was uncalled for." Yijin dropped his knife on the ground and quickly walked on. Suddenly, he saw the trail of blood. "What the hell?" He returned to the teacher's lounge and saw the scene of Xiao's earlier struggle. Two more corpses than had been present earlier. One of the teacher, Sang, and the other of the fourth assailant.

"So you lied to me Xifang." Yijin turned and followed the trail of blood on the ground. It was rather long, whoever made this trail was someone of great fortitude, to last a blow from a sainchamsageom imbued with Korean Taoist Qi.

Yijin's scarred body bled continuously as he walked towards the Eastern Stairwell. He looked forward and saw a shadow descending the stairs incredibly slowly. It had to have been the man who survived the blow. Yijin opened the door and arrived at the top of the flight. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Xiao?"

Xiao looked up and saw Yijin. "Yijin! Oh thank the Gods you're here. I couldn't last it any longer-" Xiao suddenly went limp and was about to fall, but Yijin imbued his legs with all the Qi he could muster and burst towards Xiao. He grabbed hold of his friend and landed on the platform at the bottom of the flight. "Goddamn, he could have died right there. He's lucky it's just a superficial wound, I can heal that if I use a bit of my inherent energy."

He focused and felt the Qi circulate within him, then he completely let go of that feeling and only fought for the one emotion that would bring out his inherent energy. Desire to survive. He felt the heat rise in his chest and as he did this, he pulled the blade from Xiao's thigh. Yijin sighed and placed his hands over the wound and spoke softly.

"Gods, let us empty of all doctrines, The Tao is wisdom eternally inexhaustible. Fathomless for the mere intellect, The Tao is the law wherewith all things come into being. It does not allow any of it's followers to deviate as it is the follower themselves. Protect your disciple."

At this moment, Yijin's hands burned with a raging passion of fire and Xiao's wound was quickly cauterized. Yijin spoke, "You are the great balance of the Earth. Embracing the Tao is to embrace oneself." He rose from above Xiao and walked off, heading for the exit of the school. He had to call paramedics as quickly as possible.

He found a payphone in the lobby and quickly inserted a few coins. He called the emergency number and requested policing and medical assistance. It was sent, but Yijin was long gone. At the end of the evening and close to the beginning of the night, Yijin returned to his apartment. He sat down on the bedding and quickly locked the door. Lu Gongfen was probably watching him at all times.

Yijin cracked open a can of soda and downed it in a moment. Rice wine was better in his time, but this would have to do. He pulled up his phone, ignoring all the messages contained within and started to read through the news.

"Hero student saves school from murderers."

"Who is the Savior of Public High School 19?"

"Teenager saves school from terrorists and a student from dying by falling down stairs."

He continued reading. He never was a hero before, why would he be considered a hero now. Yijin decided to find a way to defeat his adversary. "Lu Gongfen. I will be much stronger when we meet again. You will die by my blade and I will rid this pathetic world of your evils."

These words echoed through the air and reached Lu Gongfen's ears tens of miles away through their divine connection. "I hear you, Huanzhi. I hear your voice clearer than I ever have before. Prepare yourself, you wannabe hero... for war."