In July, it rained heavily, each raindrop interwoven to create a gloomy white curtain covering the mountains and forests. Erina quickly walked out after putting on her martial arts uniform.
As soon as the door opened, she saw Henry holding an umbrella and waiting. Usually on rainy days like this, he and she practiced at home, right under the roof of Orson's front yard, each in a corner.
But today is different because they will practice together. She also knew in advance that she would lose to him.
After the warm-up movements, the two of them clasped their hands together and greeted each other, then made their first punches. Orson let the two disciples fight each other with bare hands before using weapons.
Erina concentrated intensely, applying all the moves and techniques she had learned in real combat, but as she predicted, all of her attacks were quickly defeated by Henry.
Standing outside observing, Orson saw the female disciple's eyes gradually flash with murderous intent, her movements were exactly like a fight for survival. Henry also realized something strange, he felt like she wanted to take him down.
“Erina, what's wrong with you?” Henry asked quickly after suppressing a blow from her.
Erina didn't care what the person in front of her said. As soon as Henry let go, she used all her moves, techniques, and attacks to attack.
He continuously blocked the attacks and finally, he was forced to use all his strength to push her away.
Erina's legs staggered back. In a moment of losing control, she grabbed the sword on the table and rushed towards him.
Because Henry did not expect this situation, he was surprised and reacted a bit slowly. As a result, the blade cut a long line across his arm. Immediately afterward, Orson ran over and took the weapon back into his hands with just a few moves.
“Erina.”
Orson's loud shout woke Erina up from her endless trance. Looking at Henry holding his arm, his face showing pain and blood continuously flowing, dyeing his martial arts uniform red, her heart felt like someone was squeezing it, extremely painful and regretful.
“I... I... no... no...”
She stammered and quickly turned around, rushing away in the pouring rain. Henry forgot that he was injured and hurriedly chased after her.
Erina ran unconsciously. The wind continuously blew strongly and the jagged tree roots made her stumble countless times, roll around a few times, and continue to stand up and run.
She didn't want to see Henry anymore, no matter how much she hated Hubert, she never thought that she would harm Henry's body.
She didn't understand why when she was fighting, she saw Henry as Hubert and just wanted to kill him to release her anger.
After a hard fall, Erina no longer had the strength to get up. At this moment, she was completely helpless, she could only scratch her hands on the ground and cry bitterly.
The image of the boy cowering in the corner of the wall from the past suddenly rushed back into her mind. She had promised to protect him, but she had cut him with her own hands, causing him to be seriously injured.
The rain was still falling, and the wind echoed through the cliffs, creating a creepy sound. Henry held the wound tightly, ignoring the thorns and running through the bushes. His voice calling her name sounded as mournful as the call of a cuckoo in the misty fog.
After searching for a long time, he finally found Erina under the old tree, she was sitting curled up, and her whole body was wet and trembling.
Just seeing his shadow approaching, Erina jumped up in panic. But when she was about to run away, he quickly hugged her from behind.
“Let me go, I don't want to see you anymore, let me go.” She cried, trying to struggle to escape from him.
Even though the person in his heart was struggling, making his wound even more painful, he was determined to hold her tightly. He would rather lose this arm than lose her.
After a while, Erina no longer had the strength to resist, her whole body was limp, leaning against Henry. At this time, he gently helped her sit down while he knelt opposite her.
“Erina, calm down, I don't feel any pain when I'm injured, but if you keep doing that, it'll hurt me a lot, you know that?”
His voice was hoarse, his words filled with resentment. The raindrops mixed with the tears on the man's face and fell down.
“I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't want to harm you.” She sobbed and explained.
“I know, Erina, I don't blame you, why did you run away?”
Henry reached out and pulled her into his arms, continuously patting her to comfort her. Only now could he calm down.
While chasing her, countless worst-case scenarios continuously appeared in his mind, making him crazy like a wild animal.
He thought he would scold her when he met her, but in the end, he couldn't do it. He loved her so much, how could he have the heart to scold her?
“Let's go.”
Henry said as he helped Erina stand up. Although his face was dizzy, he tried to force himself to stay awake to help her. Behind their footprints, blood streaks followed the rain streaks.
When they arrived, they saw that Orson's door was closed, so they knew their fate and went straight to their place.
Because Erina was worried that it would be difficult for Henry to treat his wound himself, she immediately went into his room. While he was still surprised, she shyly walked over and whispered.
“Let me help you.”
“Then... I'll bother you.”
After speaking, Henry turned his face away to avoid embarrassing Erina. Her hands trembled as she unbuckled his belt, slowly removing his martial arts uniform. The wound was quite deep and long, making her shiver.
“The first aid box is on the head of the bed, please get it for me.” His eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Erina carefully followed Henry's instructions, first disinfecting, then using the wound medicine Orson had given him earlier to sprinkle on the wound and bandage it.
Afraid that he would be in pain, she bandaged the wound and blew gently. Seeing her like that, he couldn't help but smile. Who told her that blowing would help relieve his pain?
“Done.” She bowed her head, speaking softly.
“Erina, go change your clothes, we will go apologize to the master.” Henry looked at her and said gently.
Hearing Henry speak, Erina suddenly remembered that she had broken the rules, and punishment was inevitable. Perhaps the master was very angry so he closed the door.
“Erina, don't be afraid.” He held the girl's hand tightly and smiled to reassure her.
She nodded lightly and quickly left. After dressing properly, the two of them walked over to Orson's house. Henry raised his hand and knocked twice.
“Master, my junior sister and I have come to apologize to you.”
After a long while without hearing any movement, he recklessly pushed the door open. Erina looked down at his feet and followed. When she entered, she slowly raised her head. Before her eyes was Orson's back.
“Erina, do you know your sin?” Orson asked in a serious voice.
“Yes, Master, I know. I'm sorry.” Erina hurriedly knelt.
Orson slowly turned his head, his eyes sweeping over the two disciples. He had already discovered that she had a problem in her mind, but he didn't expect it to be this serious.
“I do not deny that the nature of martial arts is violence. But we are not like the thugs on the street, in the market. Erina, if you can't control your emotions, it will be difficult for you to continue.”
As soon as Orson finished speaking, Henry knelt down. He and Erina continuously begged him for forgiveness.
“Master, I know I was wrong, I will try to cultivate my mind and character, please give me another chance.” Erina cried and begged.
“Master, please forgive my junior sister because this is her first mistake.” Henry earnestly begged.
Orson's eyes stopped on Henry. He felt pity for him. The first time Henry almost lost his arm, he was afraid that next time his male disciple would not have his life to crawl down the mountain.
The past time was enough for Orson to realize that the feelings that the girl beside Henry had for him were not love at all.
At first, when Henry and Erina led each other up the mountain, he thought he had found a couple to teach them great martial arts skills, but the result made him so disappointed.
“I punish you to go down to the waterfall to meditate to calm down, starting tomorrow morning. Do you have any opinion?” Orson looked at Erina seriously.
“Yes, I will do as you say, master.” She bowed her head in acceptance.
After his wave of the hand, both of them respectfully said goodbye to him and left at the same time. Erina walked in front, and Henry silently followed, holding an umbrella for her. The cold, sad wind blew the white flap of his shirt, the rain still lingered outside the porch.
Although Henry felt that Erina was very pitiful, he did not dare to disobey his master. He had practiced martial arts under the waterfall, so he knew how painful it was when the body was subjected to the force of water pouring down from above, especially during this heavy rainy season. He wished he was the one being punished, not her.
Just yesterday, they were still happily eating and chatting intimately, but why did things turn out like this this morning?
Although he didn't blame Erina for injuring him, he felt his heart ache. Could it be that she hated him so much that she wanted to kill him with a sword?