=Chong Tian=

As soon as he knew who I was, he stumbled out of the room like a frightened fool. I was doubtful that such a coward was The samurai Xun. Thinking that rumours about him being an amazing fighter was over-stated, I immedietly felt a pang of disappointment but brushed it aside in favour of carrying out the order to kill a follower of the underground Hui Tian party.

It was at that moment that the boy's friends came to save him. In a manner of speaking. I still believe that they left Xun alone to fight me just to force his powers out into the open that I had thought was non-existence.

As soon as he held the wind sword that his friends gave to him in his hands, the boy looked more like a warrior. His eyes showed a gleam that was sharp and challenging and his stance became that of a fighter. My heart pumped two beats faster when I realised that I may actually be fighting someone more powerful than those I have defeated. I smiled cheerfully at him before attacking and when the boy looked adorably puzzled at my action, I only smiled wider. His first attempt at defense was pathetic and he stumbled into the crates before I decided to show him the power of my demon sword. After feeding my sword of my blood, I could feel the power of the weapon mixed with my fighter's blood vibrating in my hands. I was quicker and was easily able to disarm Xun of his sword but the weapon quickly made its way back into his hands to counteract the attack that was descending upon him. There was a blast of impacting energies and we were both thrown back, bruised and winded. The boy fought well, more than what I have expected of the legendary warrior and that made my blood rush at an exciting speed. However, his friends took that time to snatch him away and escape into the night. I was left staring through the smoky mist when my commrade-in-arms Tu Fang arrived reinforcements. When Tu Fang teased me, likening my expression to that of a lovesick man, I only smiled at him partly in amusement and partly in realisation.

A fight to the death with the fighter who has shaken the dark lord Haoh's reign for the first time ever was what I have longed for.

=Jingwan=

The boy looked like a simpleton when he was first introduced to me. I crossed my legs, lifting a bared leg over the covered one and he blushed, tightening his grip on his sword. He must have been attracted to me when he first saw me in my opera costume and is at that moment feeling embarassed and confused that he still feels the same way to someone who looks definitely male. I admit that he was adorable in his abashed state of me but I maintained my look of critical inspection as I sized him from top to bottom. He looked more like an innocent village boy with his boyish body garbed in a kimono whose collar occasionally slipped over his small shoulders than a successor of the warrior Hei Fong Xun. When I gave him the heavy metal arm guards to wear I was not surprised that he was dragged onto the floor as soon as he put them on.

It did not take a long time before Haoh's followers caught up with him. The opera house was blown down to the ground and I made my way with the rest of the Hui Tian followers to escape through the underground tunnel to hide out at an old shrine outside the Kang Hu city. There I brought forward a suggestion that we hit Haoh straight on by breaking through the entrances, first the Soul Gate, and was not surprised that Wu Zhang and Yan Fei thought it as suicidal. At once, I brought Xun outside with a pretense of watching the moon, for some more training. Not one to understand subtle suggestion, the boy cluelessly pointed out that there was no moon tonight so I snapped at him to choose between life and death. He practically scampered after me then, his arms weighted by the arm guard as his hand clutched at the wind sword in front of himself. As we walked out of the shrine I dimly heard Wu Zhang's feminine voice, commenting on how quick Xun followed my orders like a servant to a master. It was to be expected since I assumed Xun looked the sort of being bullied often but I did not ready myself to expect comments on how easily I was able to influence the boy. I know I should, Xun being a young and charming boy despite his often scatterbrain moments (though that is often being seen as a delightful appeal) and me being the older and stronger man. In a era where physical intimate relationships between men are the norm, Xun presents the perfect sumbissive partner a man could ask for. Which I do not. I turned around and faced Xun at the same moment the collar of his kimono chose to slide down his shoulder again.

It was only when he managed to control the power of the wind armour did I allow myself that maybe, just maybe, I cared for him more than how much a teacher feels for his student. He has made me smile with his young exuberance and laugh at his childish temper. Me, laugh? The cold, icy Jingwan, heir of the fire martial arts family Yeyue, laugh? Amazing, but true nonetheless.

=Wuzhang=

I had expected so much of the successor of Hei Fong Xun even before he came to our world so when he refused to take up the sword again to fight against Xin Xuan, I became angry. And devastated.

On our way to the Ghost Gate without our supposed-to-be weapon of power against Haoh, I brushed away a tear as I remembered the treasured moments I had with Hei Fong Xun. Gao Xun looked so much like our Xun, except for the sprinkle of light-coloured freckles across the ridge of his nose. They both talked the same way, acted the same way and smiled the same way. I also knew that they felt the same way about justice and peace so why doesn't Gao Xun want to fight along-side with us as our former Xun would? I thought Gao Xun as a coward and did not deserve to be chosen as the successor of Hai Fong Xun.

He proved me wrong when he saved our asses from the Xin Xuan officers. The fight with Chong Tian nearly cost him his life and the next one against Haoh's man at the Soul Gate made me see that he was indeed a worthy person to hold the Xun name.

When he first saw Jingwan-san dressed as a woman on stage I was annoyed to see a love-struck expression on Xun's face. And I was more disturbed to see how quick Xun was to obey Jingwan-san's every words ever since he became Jingwan-san's student. I felt that I have not spent enough time with our old Xun before he died so why am I fated now to share this new Xun's affection with someone else?
Life's just not fair...

=Tu Fang=

It was clear that Chong Tian was obsessed with the boy warrior, Xun. He turned to me when I called him and saw in his eyes the fire slowly dying into a small flame of longing. I daresay my friend was smitten, whether it was because of the fight or the boy himself.

That night as we drank after dinner, we talked mostly of the rise of the Hui Tian party with the arrival of the legendary samurai Xun. He was joking with me when suddenly he coughed hard, his body slightly heaving in pain. He was quick to wave my worry aside. A handsome and powerful warrior he was still young but the affliction in his body caused by his constant use of the demon sword was cutting his life short.

As I closed the window that I was perched on, I commented on the coldness of the wind but he merely smiled, saying that it will soon end. I was cut wondering if he meant the wind or the sickness that ailed him when an alarm went off signalling the arrival of intruders in the Xin Xuan headquarters which was also a sort of a fort to protect the Ghost Gate.

Chong Tian was among the first to greet the arrival of Xun when the boy came to rescue his friends. I could see that Chong Tian was the better swordsman but the cough that suddenly wracked the frame of his body before blood came forth from his mouth prevented him from landing the blow that would have killed Xun instantly.

When Chong Tian got his wind back, he stood up and we all watched in wonder as his power slowly grew, his actions looking as beautiful as a dance of a goddess. Xun's gathering of his powers was less cultured but not less powerful as we witnessed when his sword slahsed through Chong Tian's defenses. Chong Tian would've been able to split Xun's skull if not for the sudden attack from the Wind sword. Chong Tian was not the only one reeling in surprise at the sudden counterattack for I had also underestimated the the boy's skill in using and controlling his weapon.

I was also surprised that although bleeding at his head caused by his enemy's sword, Xun had run towards Chong Tian and pleaded that my friend not die. I did not hear what Chong Tian said to Xun with his last breath but it made the boy more agitated than calm. Despite his powers, skills and strength, Xun was still a boy with the remorse of death in his young hands.

I left when Xin Xuan group toppled under the death of Chong Tian. As a fighter and a warrior I cursed at the cowards who ran and hid after the destruction of the group. Chong Tian, one of the strongest fighter I have ever known was gone so I did the next best thing that I could think of. Follow Xun.
Or actually I began to stalk him. After witnessing Chong Tian's defeat under Xun's Wind Sword, I find myself curious of the boy. There were flaws in Xun's attacks and defenses but I had a feeling that it would soon be improved and I was not disappointed when I confronted him during his movement to break past the Soul Gate.

His wind attack combined with the fire one of his companions momentarily blinded me and after the remains of the bastard Banzhang scattered across the rain dampened rooftop, I left with a smug goodbye to the samurais of Hui Tian. Xun did not say anything but the smile and the look he gave me relayed his respect and gratitude at helping him disable Banzhang earlier on. Banzhang was a liar and a coward who would stab anyone at the back. He deserved to die. Working in Xin Xuan and serving Haoh were not important anymore. As I walked away from the Soul Gate I knew that sooner or later I will see samurai Xun again and by that time I will become stronger than I am now. Maybe by that time I will want to fight him to the end like Chong Tian but for now I will keep on watching him.

THE END