Chapter 108: The Haymaker
Preparing to fight next to his twin again after so many years separated by resentment and then just absence made Paike feel some way. He wasn't sure how to put it into words, but it was intense.
It was like coming home but also holding a venomous snake by the tail. As much as he liked Guan Li or respected Li Feng, they would never be his brother. His siblings were special. Not just because they all shared the blood of Mother and Father, but because they were different. It was something impressed on them from birth. They were Kongs, and more was expected of them.
And as much as Paike loved Liming, she would always be his little sister. Taka was his twin, his other half. For almost ten years, everything was shared, and nothing was held back. Liming might contend that Taka had been using him long before he awakened, but Paike still didn't see it. They had different roles in their partnership. Taka was the face. He needed the accolades and the acclaim.
Paike was the tactician; he was the muscle. Taka got them into situations, and Paike got them out. Taka would set up an advantage and trust Paike to capitalize on it. Taka was the flickering jab while Paike was the haymaker coming from behind it.
Then it all stopped, and Paike had to find his own way. His plans had been lackluster: follow Liming around until he was just a burden? Or go teach at home? Taka would have never settled for something like that no matter what. He might not have been able to see it through, but he was the dreamer; Paike was the doer.
For a while, Paike had tried to be both roles, but when he had really gotten his feet under him with cultivation, he found it so hard to care about that stuff and had pawned it off to Liming. Looking back at it, shoving the decision on what to do about the outer sect onto her was not as kind as he had thought.
Now, how was he standing next to Taka again?
However, everything was different. In their time away, Paike had found that he didn't like Taka's job, but that he also didn't need it.
No, Paike didn't need those grand plans anymore. There was no need for someone to plan how to take over the world or gain their own territory to rule. Now he had his own plans, and they couldn't be simpler. He would never need to update them or rethink them. All he had to do was cultivate. He would go as far as he could, and then he would keep going.