《Law of Vengeance》 Seven Striking Thunder ¡° ¡° ¡° ¡°destination ¡° Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡° ¡°dan CloudreaverOniSiwang Geshou Sun Feiyun! I, Zhou Hui Ying, last daughter of my family, see you dead. Outer Disciples he might be ¡°Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡° ¡° Training Begins Mouse. was wanted chu-chu-chu Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Barriers of Breath breathe breathe was Tonight? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Corpselight feel seenhuodouhuodouhuodou huodou houdou The Storm Crevice I was going to die How would I know? If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. wouldwould survive alive Must The End of Guanqing鈥檚 Story the great dragon-turtle said Ahem. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. you Opportunities and Consequences too big. ¡° ¡° not likely to kill me anytime soonThe story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Koh didn¡¯t slow down. Zhuzhu ran to catch him while I limped my way into the infirmary. Inside, Yuanshu was setting medicines out on a jade tray. He gestured at the nearby seat. Once I sat down, he picked up a knife. ¡°Not many who get lost on the mountain come back to us. Certainly not in such good shape.¡± He cut through the strips of fabric on my improvised splint. The flesh underneath was swollen and painful. I bit back the cries that wanted to escape as he prodded at the tissue. What research could Yuanshu be doing that was so forbidden that, even in a demonic sect, he needed an assistant he could blackmail into silence? The Path Never Runs Smooth I missed breakfast - Yuanshu kept me overnight to ensure that my arm healed perfectly, feeding me elixirs that stimulated my dormant qi to restore flesh and blood. He also gave me a silk packet filled with pills no larger than the tip of my pinky. They were a deep red, close to violet, and gave off a sharp, citrus scent. ¡°I call them Blossoming Yang Elixir. You must take one a day. There should be enough here to get you to the trials. Should you pass and our arrangement suits us both, I¡¯ll make more.¡± The satchel was weighty in my hand. ¡°You just have these lying around?¡± He smiled. ¡°I began refining them from the moment you took the first pill I offered, Younger Brother.¡± How galling; my deception really hadn¡¯t lasted even a single evening. All my fretting and pride in my bravery dissolved in an instant. It left a sour taste on my tongue, like meat that had just gone off. ¡°Was my disguise truly that poor?¡± ¡°Only to one versed in the qi of the body.¡± Yuanshu briefly rested his hand on my shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t blame yourself. You are hardly the only one with secrets. One does not pursue cultivation if one is content. It¡¯s somewhat ironic that we who ostensibly search for enlightenment are so attached to our ambitions and desires.¡± He lifted his hand. ¡°Take the elixir now. If your body rejects it entirely, we need to know before you return to the others.¡± The pill was heavier in my hand than its size led me to suspect. I rolled it around in my fingers and wondered if there was some way I could learn the recipe. Dissecting it would do no good - after submission to the cauldron¡¯s refining fires, the original form of the herbs and minerals that had gone into the elixir would be unrecognizable. All the impurity of form had been burned away, leaving only the medical and spiritual substances behind. But, perhaps, as Yuanshu¡¯s ¡®assistant¡¯, I could get him to trust me enough to reveal his secrets - no doubt he¡¯d targeted me because he believed that, as a woman, I would be more biddable and compliant than the other disciples. If that was his thinking, I could exploit it. So I popped the pill into my mouth without any further hesitation. I bit down and citrus exploded in my mouth, robbed of all its sweetness with nothing left but mouth-puckering sharpness. I swallowed it before my throat could close up in self-defense. ¡°Why¡­does it taste so bad?¡± I said after my mouth was cleared of it. ¡°If I¡¯d spent time researching ingredients that tasted good, Zhou, then you¡¯d only have half of the pills in the bag at your disposal. If that.¡± His mild gaze swept across my face. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Like I just chewed a mouthful of moldy citrons. But other than that, I feel fine.¡± Which was, as if the gods of mischief were listening, when the cramps hit. My stomach clenched with frightful power, nearly sending me tumbling off the examination table. Yuanshu caught me before I could fall, and pushed me back down flat. ¡°Don¡¯t scream,¡± he warned quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t want anyone asking questions. I can get you something to bite down on.¡± A surge of energy tore through me, born in pain, filling my sight with white. I didn¡¯t scream. I wouldn¡¯t give him the satisfaction¨Cand I didn¡¯t have the breath. I convulsed, fighting mindlessly against his hands, like if I could rise to my feet I could outrun the pain. I slammed my hands on the sides of the table, hoping the impact of flesh on carved stone would provide a distraction. I couldn¡¯t even feel the bruising I must have been inflicting on myself. Everything was fire. It lasted for an eternity. When the cramps finally receded, I was soaked in sour, citrus-scented sweat, my every muscle quivering in exhaustion. Stars, red and white, danced in front of my eyes. ¡°What¡­was that?¡± ¡°Side effects.¡± Tears were streaming down either side of my face and I couldn¡¯t even muster the pride to care. ¡°Is it going to be like that every time?¡± I would endure it if I had to. I would endure anything. But a cold terror gripped me at the thought. Yuanshu looked down at me, and sighed. ¡°No. The first dose is the most intense. Your body didn¡¯t reject the elixir, so it will adapt with each dose. Over time, it will reroute your qi flow to simulate a masculine energy.¡± Slowly, I sat up. I focused on him so that I could pretend the ground wasn¡¯t tilting. ¡°Will it¡­make me a man?¡± He smiled. ¡°Do you want it to?¡± ¡°No.¡± It burst out of me without my conscious bidding. I didn¡¯t regret my womanhood, inconvenient though it might be on the path I¡¯d chosen to walk. ¡°Good,¡± he replied. ¡°That would be a considerably more involved process to achieve alchemically. There are some Laws that I understand will align one¡¯s body to the demands of the Law. But I¡¯m not practiced in them.¡± He surveyed me, taking in my sweaty, trembling body with a healer¡¯s satisfaction. ¡°You seem well enough now. You should be able to make it to your instruction.¡± I opened my mouth. Then closed it once more. I didn¡¯t want to stay longer here. And retreating to my tiny hut would only make me look weak. I swung my legs off the table and pushed myself to my feet with more confidence than I felt. My knees shook, then held. I would light incense to the god of health at the next opportunity. Yuanshu had already turned away. He hummed to himself as he searched through his apothecary¡¯s cabinet. I considered, then rejected, leaving without a word. If I was going to win the healer¡¯s trust, I would have to feign a biddable nature. ¡°Thank you for your time. When should I come back, Elder Brother? To assist you, I mean.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll send word by noon on any evening where I¡¯ll need your assistance. After dinner, you will meet me here. I understand you¡¯re rather unsociable after the meal, so it shouldn¡¯t raise any suspicion.¡± I bit back the instinctive correction that it wasn¡¯t unsociable and he, of all people, had reason to know that. I reminded myself to be meek. Pliant. ¡°Of course, Elder Brother.¡± He showed no interest in drawing the conversation out. I left without another word. The class was already deep into breathing practice when I arrived. Fuxi Wei stalked among the rows, adjusting here, barking advice there. I noted that the ranks had thinned out a little more - but Zhuzhu and both Kohs were still there. They were towards the front; before I could decide whether to make my way to join them, Brother Fuxi looked up. He pointed at the back row. I certainly wasn¡¯t going to argue. I took my place as quietly as possible, and hoped that the ever-present mist of the mountain would help wash away some of the acrid sweat that still clung to me. For just a moment, I had a wistful yearning that I could visit the baths without worry and simply soak in the hot water, instead of always trying to fit my bathing into the few moments here and there when no one else was sharing it. Even the frigid waters of the undermountain sea provoked a moment of longing. The breathing came easily as I remembered the flow of air in the darkness. My lower dantian glowed in my mind, a comforting pulse just near my womb. Tendrils of light stretched up my spine and down to the ground below. Through them, energy flowed, filling my lungs, my stomach, even my kidneys. My eyes closed and I adjusted my stance to better stabilize myself. I could feel the earth beneath me in a way that was difficult to describe, and it breathed with me. Unlike my first time in this class, I had no urge to grab for the energy that was flowing through me. I didn¡¯t need to cling to it. I was a part of it, tingling from my scalp to my toes. I sensed Brother Wei before I heard his quiet, ¡°Good.¡± The earth and the wind made room for him as he moved. It meant I didn¡¯t jump despite the closeness of his voice. ¡°It seems that your adventure has taught you something, Younger Brother.¡± ¡°Thank you, Elder Brother,¡± I murmured in return. I didn¡¯t quite dare to open my eyes. Not even when Wei placed his hand on my lower belly. My shocked, indrawn breath shook the rhythm of my breathing but his hand didn¡¯t move. ¡°Take a moment,¡± he said.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. My skin crawled, but if I¡¯d been able to breathe through a broken arm, surely I could suffer through this. Like the pain, I put the sensation of his fingers aside. Not ignoring it, but giving it only the importance it deserved - none at all. My breathing steadied. His fingers made their way above the place where I imagined my dantian glowing. His other hand settled against my lower back, pressing into the muscles to either side of my spine. ¡°Here. Strengthen the use of these muscles on your exhales. Inhale through the mouth, exhale through the nose. Let the air circulate through you as it circulates through the skies.¡± Clumsily, I followed his instruction. At first, it felt unnatural and labored. My connection with my breath stuttered and shifted. But Brother Wei pressed me fore and rear, a warmth flowing from his fingers. I persisted. The moment the breath connected, I almost wept. A surge of power followed the flow of air, and every place within me that it touched seemed to come alive with vitality. Brother Wei removed his hands. ¡°Good. Practice just like that on your own. I recommend doing so during your every activity, but particularly during evening meditations. In the meantime, you are free to seek other instruction during this class.¡± ¡°Thank you, Elder Brother!¡± His only response was a grunt before he turned and continued his patrol. Elation proved more difficult to banish than pain or fear. My breathing stuttered several times before the class was over; every time I thought about having finally received my first victory in the sect, I wanted to whoop and shout. And I did both of those as soon as we were released from our silent practice. ¡°Zhuzhu!¡± I raced over to his bulk, easy to find in any crowd. ¡°I did it!¡± It wasn¡¯t until he turned and I saw the look in his eyes that I remembered that Zhuzhu was not the friend I¡¯d hoped he¡¯d be. The glimmer of frustration, of envy, was there only a moment, but his congratulatory slap on the shoulder had more than its usual exuberant force. I staggered under the blow even as he bared his teeth and said, ¡°Good job, Laoshu! Our practice must have helped. You must show us what you learned!¡± He looked to the Kohs. ¡°We should go back tonight.¡± I regained my balance just as the brothers said, in unison, ¡°No.¡± Koh the Younger gave me a tentative smile. ¡°Although, if you are willing to give us some instruction after dinner¡­¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I said, immediately. My smile was wide and practiced, carefully including Zhuzhu and Koh the Older as much as the Younger. ¡°Let¡¯s meet in the feathered pavilion after dinner. No one uses it at night and it has some air flow that might help.¡± It was agreed, before the cinnamon-clad disciples came to collect us for chores. Once again, Koh the Younger and I found ourselves in the kitchen, working with Ju Jing. This time, we were carefully scrubbing the dirt out of the crevices of large, red-gilled mushrooms that I didn¡¯t recognize. Although it was delicate, tedious work, it was something of a promotion in the small politics of the kitchens - the mushroom gills had to be preserved as much as possible and so this work was only given to initiates who had proven that they wouldn¡¯t tear ingredients apart with their enthusiasm. It was also, to some extent, an exile. Since Ju Jing had murdered the bully, his former compatriots had been pointedly avoiding him. And, by extension, Koh the Younger and myself. The other initiates were clearly wary of the blind man. I¡¯d even seen the servants giving him sidelong, uncertain looks. He seemed oblivious but I suspected that was as much due to his performer¡¯s control of his expression as his lack of sight. We settled into the work. Ju Jing said, ¡°I understand congratulations are in order.¡± His smile was aimed in my direction; I still wasn¡¯t sure how he distinguished myself from Koh if we didn¡¯t talk, but I hadn¡¯t seen him fail. Something in me bristled at the words. Was he mocking me? It had taken Ju Jing next to no time to master the breathing exercises. It was impossible to tell; his expression was pleasant and bland. Just as it had been as he¡¯d suffocated the other disciple to death with his Art. ¡°It¡¯s hardly worth celebrating,¡± I muttered. ¡°Breathing is only the first step, and I had to half fall off the mountain to do it.¡± I¡¯d already known that I wouldn¡¯t share any news of the sea or the trapped gods within the drowned workshop. Even if I hadn¡¯t been determined to use what I might one day win from that place in my vengeance, disciples were always desperate for an edge, for anything that might propel them forward in cultivation. Disciples had been killed for less than the knowledge I had, small though it was. Ju Jing¡¯s hands worked peacefully and if he found anything offensive in my tone, or suspected what I might be hiding, it showed nowhere in his reactions. ¡°A first step done well and completely is always worth celebrating.¡± ¡°I think he¡¯s right,¡± Koh said, his smile sunny. Even admiring, in a way that was just as unsettling as Ju Jing¡¯s placidity, if for different reasons. ¡°Just surviving that was an accomplishment. How did you manage? Did you find where the water came from? No one in the sect knows; the Elder Brothers just said that they knew better than to trust the Black Witch and now that she¡¯d taken one fool, we would know it, too.¡± Now, Ju Jing¡¯s attention shifted. He tilted his head to one side. ¡°The sect doesn¡¯t know? Odd. I¡¯d assumed it was some sort of defensive measure to protect the sect. What is this Black Witch?¡± Koh shook his head, then turned beet red. Out loud, he said, ¡°They didn¡¯t say. I don¡¯t think they even know. They talked about it like a demon or a curse.¡± I bent over my work, cleaning the delicate gills with all my focus. It didn¡¯t stop the question I dreaded. ¡°Kou Hou, did you see anything? How did you survive the water?¡± Lies upon lies. I wished my heart to blacken and harden, so that I didn¡¯t feel the twinge and prick of conscience as I replied, ¡°Nothing. The water surged and withdrew. I don¡¯t claim any great strength; I just refused to die until it washed me up on some rocks. It was pitch black and my arm was broken. I felt my way forward, found a tunnel that went up. And,¡± I made myself laugh, a short sharp sound devoid of humor, ¡°I prayed to the Merciful One that she might take pity on someone so pathetic as myself. I suppose it moved her.¡± ¡°That makes sense,¡± Koh said, although his disappointment was plain to see. ¡°It¡¯s probably just a tale they tell Outers to keep us from getting caught in the waters.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± Ju Jing was facing somewhere between us, his eyes closed, face relaxed. And yet, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that if he had been sighted, he would be staring directly at me. ¡°Most people are not accustomed to moving in total darkness. Finding your way out of the tunnels in such conditions, while wounded, is not pathetic. My old troupe blindfolded themselves to learn my routines. Even the simplest actions would stymie many of them without their eyesight.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Koh asked. Ju Jing¡¯s smile was slight, but warm. ¡°A good performer is always learning a new way to master their body. A good cultivator, as well, I think.¡± His voice lost its placidity and for once it was rich with remembered fondness. ¡°But mostly, they learned so that when I struggled, I could explain the difficulty and they would understand, having experienced some small part of it themselves.¡± My throat closed on a sudden thickness. I felt, just for a moment, the warmth of my mother¡¯s hands, showing me how to hold the inkstick and stone, tutting over my small fingers, her voice against my ear, such a trial isn¡¯t it, little bird? I¡¯ll show you how to scrape the ink until you can grind it properly. Neither of them seemed to notice the way my fingers curled, even when a fingernail raked over the delicate gill and shredded the mushroom¡¯s underside. I bit back the urge to curse, tossed the mushroom to one side and grabbed another. When my voice was steady, I said, ¡°That seems like a good way to teach. Were the Singers a family troupe?¡± Ju Jing smiled. ¡°Not by blood. Like many of the traveling performers, we took in orphans and the abandoned from villages and cities we traveled through. I, myself, was cast aside for the curse of my blindness.¡± Koh sucked in a breath. ¡°You¡¯ve been like that since birth?¡± ¡°Koh,¡± I hissed. ¡°No, it is a fair question,¡± Ju Jing said. ¡°And the truth. I have never known a day when I could see as I¡¯m told others do. Which is, perhaps, why my curse does not bother me as it seems to bother others.¡± He finished a mushroom and shrugged. ¡°This is what I know. And, as you both have cause to know, I do not consider it a great hindrance.¡± ¡°Is it a curse?¡± I asked. ¡°Did your parents offend a god? A demon?¡± ¡°I do not know,¡± he admitted. ¡°There was a time when I daydreamed of finding the village where I had been cast away, finding my parents, descending on them in silk and velvet and fame so that they might know that, whatever punishment the gods had thought to deliver to them with my birth, it had not touched me with their abandonment.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you?¡± That was Koh, his hands gone completely still. Ju Jing laughed. I thought I heard a hint of sadness there. ¡°What would it serve, my friend? Whatever offense led to my curse, it was not lifted from me with my removal from them. They prosper without me, or they do not. When I thought about it, I realized that neither prospect offered me any pleasure. Only by releasing that resentment and purifying my own flesh would I find the answers ¨C and the transformation ¨C that I desire.¡± Ah. Ju Jing sought the miraculous healing of the immortals. Most in his position might seek out the aid of cultivators, throw himself on their mercy or pledge service in exchange for a miracle. But in a few brief weeks, I thought that I knew him well enough to say that Ju Jing preferred to handle his problems himself. He would not bow if he thought he could achieve the pinnacle under his own power. It made sense. It was even admirable. But what it didn¡¯t answer was the question that still burned in my mind: where had a blind acrobat, and an abandoned foundling at that, learned the art to murder with such elegant brutality that even Inner Disciples had shown respect? The Serpent and the Blade It was the sound of steel on steel that drew me to the hidden practice yard, three days after my breakthrough with my breathing. I had spent those days observing other classes ¨C observing, because none of the Inner Disciples who taught the classes were willing to take on my instruction. One called me Laoshu to my face and sneered that he taught men, not rodents, while the other Outers snickered. Until that moment, I hadn¡¯t realized that the nickname had made it to the ears of the Inners, and I here I confess my weakness: in the fires of humiliation, I had blushed and fled. Just yesterday morning, Zhuzhu had broken through in his practice of breathing, and this morning he had been practically inundated with offers from the brothers who sought to teach the combat arts. He¡¯d offered to take me along, and I had been tempted. But it would further cement me in the eyes of the sect as the mouse, in the shadow of the giant boar. Besides, I knew how easily that boar could shift and crush me under one trotter, perhaps without even meaning to do so. I claimed that I had another class that I¡¯d been accepted to. Thus, I wandered through the quiet areas of the sect, hoping not to meet anyone who might casually mention my lack of occupation to him or anyone else. The route I chose was, quite deliberately, as far from the other practice yards as I could get. Which made the sound of clashing steel all the more unusual. And intriguing. I crept up on the sound, only to stop in shock as I rounded the corner of a building and saw the small yard laid out before me. Kai, the demon-blooded disciple, was here, stripped down to his trousers and covered in shallow, bleeding wounds. He held two small, curved knives and faced off against a man wearing bright yellow silks. Kai¡¯s opponent held only one knife, small and thin and almost absurdly delicate in his hand. The slender steel possessed none of the graceful lethality of Kai¡¯s knives, and the Inner barely seemed to grip the blade, as if it was a mere decoration. I wondered if it was meant as a deliberate insult in contrast to Kai¡¯s focus, or if the Inner simply didn¡¯t care about the fury it might provoke. Either way, Kai¡¯s black eyes narrowed and I sucked in a breath as he hurled himself forward. In public areas, the demon-blooded disciple always moved with a kind of careful deliberateness, a grace and restraint that hinted at private tutors and the etiquette of nobility. In this moment, I saw a new and terrifying side of him. He struck like a cobra, fluid and unstoppable, his blades flashing like steel fangs. If he was holding anything back, I couldn¡¯t see what, and in that moment I wondered if what I¡¯d actually interrupted was a challenge and I was about to see an Inner Disciple die under Kai¡¯s blades. Instead, the Inner¡¯s hand danced through the air and deflected both blades with enough force that Kai staggered, his arms flung wide. It was an opening, and the Inner exploited it with a single, casual kick...that sent Kai skidding across half the practice yard on his back. I flinched at the painful sound he made, and he didn¡¯t immediately try to rise. Mindful of how another Outer might view my having seen them being so casually humbled, I took a step backwards, meaning to withdraw. Instead, the Inner said, ¡°Oh, don¡¯t go now. I was curious about your thoughts...Zhou Hou, wasn¡¯t it? Please, join us.¡± The please didn¡¯t make it any less of a command. Heart in my mouth, I stepped forward. Kai flipped himself back to his feet; his inhuman gaze was often unreadable, but not this time. His black eyes burned with resentment. I looked away to focus on the Inner. His face, beautiful and refined, showed nothing but a faint curiosity, like a man who has just discovered an unusual bug in his garden. I searched for something useful to say that wouldn¡¯t make an enemy of Kai. He¡¯s no competition for you was right out, no matter how true it was. I cast my mind back to the moment they clashed, the way Kai¡¯s arms had been flung wide while the Inner had barely seemed to move. ¡°You...redirected the force, rather than counter it. Brother Kai struck hard and true, but he was moving so fast that when you met blades at that specific angle, he couldn¡¯t stop himself in time. His blades were pushed wide by his own movements.¡± Kai glowered¡ªbut he didn¡¯t argue. And the Inner smiled. ¡°Precisely. That is the essence of working with the arts of the small blade,¡± he said to Kai. ¡°You strike as if you are wielding and axe or a horseman¡¯s blade. The dagger has not the weight nor the leverage to use power to break through.¡± ¡°But if you¡¯re fast enough¡ª¡± Kai started. The Inner overrode him easily. ¡°Someone will always be faster. Combat among immortals is about knowledge, not brute strength nor even raw speed.¡± His eyes turned back to me. ¡°What weapon do you favor, Brother Zhou?¡± I froze. As a woman and the daughter of a family of artisans, I had never had the opportunity to learn any weapon. My parents couldn¡¯t even afford such instruction for my brothers, much less a girl of the family. But...that was my grace. Not every male learned the arts of war. I forced my tongue to work once again. ¡°None, Elder Brother. My family were scribes; there was no money for such things, and no need.¡± Had we managed to find the money, could my brothers have defended themselves? Defended my sisters and my parents? No. A cultivator¡¯s power made a mockery of the weapon skills of mortals. As Kai was learning now, for all his demonic aptitudes. It made it easier to raise my chin and return his derisive snort with a pretense of calm. The Inner watched with undisguised amusement. ¡°I have known cultivators who can kill with the stroke of a brush. It is not a weapon that kills, but the focus and will behind it.¡± He beckoned. ¡°Come, Younger Brother. Let¡¯s test your focus.¡± Kai stiffened. ¡°What? This is meant to be my time.¡± The Inner¡¯s eyes narrowed. His voice didn¡¯t rise, but it sharpened, cracking like a whip through the air. ¡°It is my time, Younger Brother. Which I gift to whom I will. You¡¯re welcome to seek other instruction if that displeases you.¡± I watched with a kind of horrified fascination as Kai flushed. His scales remained unchanged and with the mottled anger of his skin they stood out in greater relief, almost like tattoos across his face. He glared at me with black eyes that promised retribution. Still, his voice was cool as he conceded, ¡°I would not presume to dictate who you might share your wisdom with, Elder Brother. But he has no skill with the blade, he admits.¡± The Inner smiled. ¡°Which puts him closer to your level than mine. He¡¯ll make a good sparring partner for you. Zhou Hou, take this.¡± It was my only warning before he drew another small blade from somewhere in his robes and flipped it through the air at me. I snatched frantically at it before it could end its flight embedded in my shoulder. My fingers glanced off the blade, deflecting it to the paving stones where it clattered with a light and musical sound. All three of us stared at it until I, blushing furiously, bent to pick it up. I did my best to emulate the way Kai was holding his own daggers. He noticed the mimicry and snorted, turning away. The Inner only gave a brief nod. ¡°Good. Now, both of you, stand side by side. We will go over basic stances first¡ªBrother Kai, don¡¯t give me that look. Your stances are acceptable, but they are not perfect. You cannot afford not to practice the basics.¡± I scrambled into roughly the right place, and cleared my throat. ¡°Elder Brother?¡± His eyes flicked to me, one eyebrow arched at the interruption. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Your name. I haven¡¯t been honored with your name.¡± He laughed, then. ¡°You may call me Brother Jian, as does Brother Kai. In time, either or both of you may earn more from me. But for now, I am the blade that will either shape you...or break you. It¡¯s all you require.¡± I fell silent, unable to argue with the finality of his tone. And by the time Brother Jian released us with a casual, ¡°That¡¯s enough for today,¡± I was afraid that break was far more likely than shape. We hadn¡¯t even progressed to anything like sparring but my whole body was drenched in sweat and my arms shook with fatigue. I barely felt the dagger in my hand through the numbness of my fingers. Jian had us practicing the most simple stances and strikes, but for hours without a hint of mercy. As he finally turned away, it was all I could to do stagger forward, offering the dagger. ¡°Elder Brother, your weapon.¡± He looked over his shoulder, then down at my hand. ¡°Keep it. You¡¯ll need something to practice with on your own, and I have plenty.¡± He swept out of the small courtyard, looking as neatly put together as he had the first moment I saw him. Such was the stamina of the immortal. The idea sparked a raw envy in me, and one of the first hungers I¡¯d had for the power of immortality for its own sake, rather than just as the tool for my revenge. I moved to find a place in my simple disciple¡¯s outfit where I might carry the knife without slicing myself with it. It was only my sudden turn to check my sash that saved my life. I caught a flash of light out of the corner of one eye. Pure instinct flung me aside, to an ungraceful roll and scrabble along the ground as Kai¡¯s blade whistled through the space my throat had occupied. I was too shocked to even cry out. I could only retreat as he stalked forward, his blade pointed at me. His voice was as icy as the undermountain sea. ¡°You will not return, Laoshu, or I will kill you.¡± It took me a painful breath to find my voice. ¡°You heard Jian. It¡¯s his choice who to teach. Not yours.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°I¡¯m not telling him who to teach. I¡¯m telling you that if you return to be taught, I will kill you. What you do with that knowledge is your choice.¡± He raked me with those black, inhuman eyes, and sneered. ¡°I expect you to make the intelligent decision.¡± ¡°Why?¡± When he snorted in surprise and mockery, I flushed, but pressed on. ¡°I mean why do you insist on having lessons alone?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t insist on having lessons alone. Just not with you.¡± He flipped the knives in his hands and made them disappear up his sleeves with a graceful movement that I would have killed to be able to do. ¡°We have a limited amount of time to prove our worth. You are slowing me down with your presence here. And even if Brother Jian is willing to put up with it, I am not.¡± ¡°But what if¡ª¡± His hand chopped the air and my words. ¡°There are no buts. Find another teacher. Anything¡ªor anyone¡ªwho stands in my way will be cut down. This is your only warning, rodent.¡± He turned and strode away in a way that made it insultingly clear that his legs weren¡¯t jelly from the hours of practice...and that he didn¡¯t consider me enough of a threat to hesitate to turn his back on me. He wasn¡¯t wrong. I could barely lift my dagger, light as it was. The thought of trying to plunge it into his back was laughable. No matter how good it would feel if I pulled it off. I swayed on my feet as he disappeared into the maze of tiny streets that made up this part of the sect. I had no doubt that Kai meant every word he said. There were other teachers in the sect. I hadn¡¯t exhausted every possibility. Perhaps I could visit the archives; some of the Inner Disciples were surely of a scholarly bent and would be open to teaching someone who wasn¡¯t as much of a warrior. A coward dies again and again, each death as wretched as the first. It was my father¡¯s voice. And the worst part was that there was no overt condemnation. There never had been. It was my father¡¯s habit to observe, and share his observation, rather than shout or order. There was something about the calm words that always cut deeper than a sneer or a slap would have. The truth was keener than any blade, even the one I held in my hand. Cowardice. The vice I could least afford. My jaw set, and I glared at the place Kai had disappeared. ¡°You don¡¯t get to dictate my time, either. See you tomorrow, Brother.¡± * The next day, the ever-present storm around the mountain rose up, blanketing the sect in cold, stinging rain and the skin-tingling crackle of thunder. This changed nothing about the sect¡¯s daily workings, but it meant that my intent to stride defiantly to my next (and perhaps final) dagger lesson instead became a sodden but determined squelch as I splashed my way through freezing puddles to reach the courtyard. Jian was already there and the rain didn¡¯t dare to touch him. It parted around him, as if he were deflecting it as easily as Kai¡¯s attacks yesterday. His robes, his hair, his hands¡ªthey were all perfectly in order and exquisitely dry. Even the paving stones he stood on were dry and tidy. ¡°How do you do that?¡± I hadn¡¯t meant to ask such a silly question. But there was ice water running down various parts of me, and it just slipped out, depressingly plaintive. Jian laughed, the back half of it trailing into snorts that were unexpectedly human. ¡°The arts we learn can be applied to more than combat, Younger Brother. Part of enlightenment is to see beyond the obvious and understand how all things are connected, be they violence, peace, or rain.¡± He spread his hands and I watched the water bow away from them with fascination. ¡°How do you think I do it?¡± I realized after the silence grew expectant that this was an actual question that I was meant to attempt to answer. The rain drummed on my skull. I tried to ignore it. ¡°A...secret art?¡± He cocked his head to one side. ¡°And when you say a secret art, what do you mean?¡± This was new territory for me. I knew so little about the depths of the cultivators¡¯ disciplines. When you are mortal, you are taught only that cultivators progress along the paths of enlightenment, and as they understand more of the nature of the godhood they pursued, they learned great and terrible magics that, eventually, allowed them to ascend into the Heavens themselves. Meditation, alchemy, and the practice of the highest forms of martial arts opened those paths, I¡¯d heard, but how exactly it happened? I wasn¡¯t sure. But he watched me steadily, as if I already had the knowledge necessary to solve the question. I bit my lower lip and studied him in return, blinking the freezing water out of my eyes when I needed. The rain made it hard to think; the pounding of it on my skin was nearly a weapon¡¯s assault on its own. My breath caught as my mind flashed back to yesterday. Kai¡¯s powerful assault. The way Jian had turned it away with a minimal effort, redirecting the force of the blades. And here, the way the rain bowed away from his body. Slowly, feeling my way through the answer, I said, ¡°You¡¯re redirecting the force of the rain. Just as you did with Kai¡¯s attack. Somehow.¡± Jian¡¯s smile of approval was brilliant, warming even my half-frozen skin with its heat. ¡°Indeed. And would you believe me if I said that both actions were, in truth, the same exact action? That to understand how to redirect a blade, you must understand how to redirect the rain?¡± I shook my head. ¡°But how do you do either?¡± ¡°Practice. Focus.¡± He looked past my shoulder. ¡°Ah, and here¡¯s Brother Kai, so we can explore both, the three of us.¡± I turned to face Kai. He stared at me, surprise turning quickly to fury. I braced myself but no attack came. Instead, the seething emotions snuffed themselves, replaced by a cold and tranquil mask. He didn¡¯t blink even when a stream of water ran over his eye; I had a moment of involuntary sympathy for how unpleasant the rain must be on his bald head. He approached Jian and bowed. ¡°My apologies for my tardiness, Elder Brother.¡± Jian waved the apology away. ¡°We have plenty of time. Let¡¯s get started with practice of the basic stances,¡± and here I bit down on my lower lip to keep from groaning, ¡°and then I think it¡¯d be valuable for you to spar against one another. There are lessons to be learned from today¡¯s weather.¡± One corner of Kai¡¯s mouth, thin and almost lipless, turned up. ¡°I look forward to it,¡± he said. A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the rain. Although I doubt the premonition had anything to with a growing affinity for the qi, it wasn¡¯t wrong. The first half of the class was hard, but expected: the stances were exhausting, but less so than the day before. My breathing helped; that small, burning spot within me was a well of energy, and as I synchronized my breathing with the movement of our bodies from one stance to the next, I found that I could tap into that energy and let it fill me, instead of drawing directly from my muscles. When Jian declared himself satisfied some time later, I was warm through and through, loose and limber rather than aching. Then, Jian directed us to face each other. Cheerfully, he said, ¡°Brother Kai, as you have the most experience, why don¡¯t you take the defense? Brother Zhou, starting from Coiled Serpent stance, attempt to reach past Kai¡¯s guard and tag his chest or shoulders with the tip of your blade.¡± Coiled Serpent was the easiest of the basic stances: feet firm on the stones, knees bent enough to give me a spring when I moved. A focus on balance that could move to a quick lunge without warning. Kai shifted to Cobra¡¯s Hood Flared, one of the basic defensive stances, his hands each brandishing a blade. I circled and he kept pace with me, his black gaze unreadable. There. His foot shifted, compensating for the unsteadiness of the stone under his shoe. The tip of one blade wavered. I unraveled from Coiled Serpent to Venom Strike on pure instinct, aiming for his closest shoulder. Kai¡¯s eyes widened and triumph surged with my blood. Too soon. His blades flashed and fire painted itself along my arm and collarbone in the second before he spun in place and kicked me in the stomach. I hit the paving stones with a splash. No cry, but that wasn¡¯t due to any great courage or stamina on my part ¨C I had no breath with which to scream. Instead, I just tried not to puke on the ground before them. Kai advanced, murder in his smile. Jian cleared his throat and the other disciple froze. ¡°Not bad for a first attempt,¡± Jian said. ¡°Kai, tell him what he did wrong.¡± ¡°He showed up,¡± Kai said, flatly. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°Tch.¡± Kai appeared to regret the disdainful noise in the next moment. He rocked back on his heels and looked down at me. Toneless, he spoke. ¡°You lead with your toes when you were considering where to strike. And your eyes narrowed once you¡¯d chosen your time. I knew where and when from the moment you made each decision. It was easy to counter.¡± I staggered to my feet, breathing ragged. Blood was running down my skin, washed into pink by the rain, the cuts burning with the constant water. I stared into Kai¡¯s eyes. And, slowly, I bowed. ¡°Thank you, Brother, for sharing your wisdom. I would like to try again, if you would permit it.¡± Something strange and brief broke through his cool mask. Confusion, I thought, but it passed so fast I couldn¡¯t be sure. But he stepped back, falling easily into his stance. ¡°Whenever you¡¯re ready, then.¡± So began our agonizing dance. Agonizing for me, anyway. Two dozen times I took the offense. Two dozen times I struck, each time trying to take the critique I was given. And two dozen times, Kai cut me with both blades. My arms, my shoulders. One long line across my belly that felt as if it could have been a disembowelment if he¡¯d quite dared to do so in front of Jian. Another thin and flickering smile said he thought about it and relished the idea. My only victory was that each time I was tripped, kicked, or slammed to the stones, I refused to stay there. I picked myself up with legs that felt more unsteady each time¡ªbut they lifted me. They held. And I took up the stance again. My world shrank to my attempts to move without giving away my intent, to be faster than the snake¡¯s child before me. To the pain, and the refusal to give into it. Finally, Jian¡¯s voice cut through my concentration. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough for one day.¡± He sounded amused, and quite unconcerned by the bloody ribbons my upper body sported. ¡°Brother Kai, your defensive work is surprisingly strong. When you¡¯re forced to react to another¡¯s actions, you begin to rely on more than brute strength or speed. Nonetheless, you lack awareness. Feel the ground beneath your feet. You view it as a distraction, and that creates openings. ¡°Brother Zhou? I commend you for seeing more than half of the openings that Brother Kai has created. You, on the other hand, need what he has: strength and speed. Seeing the weakness isn¡¯t enough if you can¡¯t take advantage of it. But your perception is an asset. As is your persistence. I suggest you practice Coiled Serpent moving to a strike at least fifty times before you sleep, tonight and every night. Once you can master the forward strike, we¡¯ll work on some of the more involved arts. Kai, you should practice your footwork without your shoes, on at least five different types of terrain. Feel the earth, anticipate it. Close those gaps.¡± Kai bowed. ¡°Yes, Elder Brother.¡± I hastily followed suit. Jian considered us both. He nodded. ¡°Yes, I think this will work quite well. I expect to see you both at the same time tomorrow.¡± His departure was as sudden and without ceremony as it had been the day before. Kai and I were alone. The demon-blooded disciple turned to face me, and I took up a defensive stance of my own. Our eyes met, and I could read nothing in his. I only saw my reflection in the glossy black, sodden and exhausted. An easy kill in this moment, I was sure. I had no idea what, if anything, he saw in my face in return. His expression was closed off, the scales shimmering in the rain. With a grunt, he turned and walked away, his knives disappearing up his sleeves. Relief made me giddy. It probably also made me stupid, because I couldn¡¯t help but call after him, ¡°See you tomorrow, then, Brother?¡± He didn¡¯t look back. As soon as he was out of sight, I collapsed onto the wet cobbles and kissed the stone, tasting just the faintest hint of my own blood in the rain. The Fights Are So Vicious Because the Stakes Are So Small We had been at the sect for two months, and the Outers were growing restless. Most had learned to breathe. Those six who hadn¡¯t were avoiding the rest of us. And, I had to admit, we were avoiding them in turn, as if failure were contagious. But I noticed that even as the ambitious Outers pulled away, the ranks of the servants opened to embrace them. It was a strange dynamic, I thought. The sect took its servants from their failed disciples, a move that surely must lead to resentment. And there were flashes of bitterness here and there, notably in the way the servants rejected any attempt to call them brother. But they served with obvious pride, and if they were any more afraid of the Inners than any sensible mortal would be, I¡¯d yet to see it. One day when we¡¯d performed our kitchen tasks well enough that even Biming¡¯s perpetual grimace had lightened, I dared to ask about it. He glanced up from inspecting the mushroom basket I¡¯d brought to him. ¡°What would I resent?¡± he asked, voice flat. His expression didn¡¯t invite further inquiry, but I¡¯d started this, so I pushed forward. ¡°You came to pursue immortality. But after failing the foundation trials, the sect won¡¯t let any of us keep trying. Doesn¡¯t staying as a servant feel like¡ª¡± ¡°Failure?¡± He settled back on his heels. ¡°Obviously. Every day.¡± He pointed towards the inner section of the sect, where the immortals made their residences. ¡°Xu Qing. We grew up in the same neighborhood of the same city. We came to the sect together, determined that we would pursue immortality at all costs. When I see him now, I see a man who looks better than he did twenty years ago. A man who can lift boulders, skate across the earth, and who speaks words that shake the very stones. Me?¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve received compliments for my spicing of the meat, I suppose. It¡¯s difficult to look at him. We don¡¯t talk anymore. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m angry at him or that he¡¯s contemptuous of me. We just don¡¯t have anything to say.¡± ¡°Then why stay? If it¡¯s so hard?¡± He looked back to me and shrugged. ¡°Why not? The sect didn¡¯t fail me, young Zhou. I failed myself. And as a servant of Seven Striking Thunder, I receive better pay than anywhere but in the Imperial Palace. We are permitted to return to the city once a quarter, and I have a great deal of savings to spend there.¡± He grinned. ¡°Who needs to be immortal when you can live like a king for a fortnight, four times a year? It¡¯s enough for me, and that is why I am here, in the kitchen, and not with my friend. It was not enough for him.¡± It sounded so simple. And yet, a part of me knew that simple was very different from easy. It hurt to give up on a goal. But it hurt to pursue one, as well. I had cause to know ¨C the pills Yuanshu supplied kept my skin from scarring after the knife lessons, but they did nothing to stop the pain of being sliced to ribbons every day. Not to mention the agony of the morning yang treatments; it was never as bad as the first day but I still dry heaved from the pain at least two days out of five. I had certainly had thoughts of giving up. ¡°Are you happy with the road you¡¯ve chosen?¡± His eyebrows rose. ¡°Is anyone?¡± He shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t spend much time thinking about what might have been, boy. But I will tell you this: if you mean to look for resentment, look first to your brothers. Now is the time when disciples become restless. They will be looking for ways to distinguish themselves. And to reduce the competition. Don¡¯t worry about me. Keep your wits about you.¡± He looked at the basket and sniffed. ¡°And take this to the potboys. Tell them it¡¯s fine to go into the stew. A good job.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong. There had been three challenges between Outers in the last week ¨C one initiated by Zhuzhu. He won, handily. The other two were between disciples I knew very little of. One contest had ended with the challenger beaten into unconsciousness. The other had ended in the death of the challenged disciple. I want to say it was an accident but I don¡¯t know that I could convince my heart of it. We had all watched that fight. We¡¯d had to, as it took place during breakfast just three days ago. I¡¯d have thought the two men were evenly matched; neither of them had stood out to me as notably talented. When the challenger had sauntered across the pavilion to say some extraordinarily unkind things about the other disciple¡¯s background and family, I¡¯d yelled encouragement with the rest, demanding that he take up the matter of honor. It had seemed like a simple contest, a way of two disciples to test themselves. The duelists had bowed to one another and a volunteer had shouted the commencement. We cheered when the challenged disciple moved first, running to close in with the challenger. He was a large man with a long reach, and the challenger was tall but not as heavily muscled. I¡¯m sure that his strategy had been to get in close and overwhelm the other man with his greater weight. Instead, the challenger¡¯s hands blurred with a series of brutal strikes as he ducked under the longer reach. The sounds of impact were meaty and rapid, a staccato beat that made me wince. Zhuzhu made a sound under his breath that was difficult to interpret, but his eyes were locked on the fight, shining with fascination. The challenged disciple staggered, the momentum of his charge broken. He swayed, dazed and gasping. ¡°Move,¡± I whispered, trying to will him to throw himself to one side, to do anything to evade the follow-up that was surely coming. ¡°Move or concede, you fool.¡± He might have done the latter, if he¡¯d been given the chance. But the challenger closed in, teeth bared, and struck his throat with all his power. The disciple fell backwards, writhing, choking on whatever damage had been done there. I couldn¡¯t help but look for Ju Jing. He sat not far away, and unlike most of the disciples, he continued to calmly eat his breakfast. By this time, I knew him well enough to recognize that he was paying attention ¨C his head was cocked so that his ears could pick up as much of the fight as possible ¨C but I supposed that he saw no reason to feign sight by turning in that direction. I searched the faces around me. None were as calm as Ju Jing seemed to be; some disciples wore their fear openly. Others seemed to be enjoying themselves. All stared in silence as the fallen disciple struggled for breath. I rose to my feet. Zhuzhu glanced at me. ¡°Laoshu?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to get the apothecary. He¡¯s seriously hurt.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Zhuzhu admitted, ¡°But¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t stop to listen to the rest. Out of the corner of my vision, I noticed the cant of Ju Jing¡¯s head change just a little, his attention slipping towards me as I ran out of the pavilion and to Yuanshu¡¯s building. The apothecary had been in the middle of grinding flowers when I arrived, the inner cauldron of the jade mortar stained with a purple so bright that it emitted its own light. Without looking up he asked, ¡°Who is injured?¡± I gasped out the basics. Yuanshu asked no questions, just swept a small bag into his hands and ran. I followed, but the healer was much faster than he looked. His feet skated across the ground, the mist forming slides of water beneath every step to carry him along. I was left behind. By the time I arrived at the pavilion, the disciple was dead. Yuanshu knelt by his body. The challenger stood off to one side, given an obvious space by all the Outers. He waited, tense, his fists clenched. The skin on the knuckles of one hand had split. It seeped blood. I couldn¡¯t remember if that was the hand that had dealt the killing blow. I eeled my way through the ring of observers to Yuanshu. ¡°Is there nothing¡ª¡± He shook his head. ¡°Without breath, the spirit abandons the body with speed. Even if I were to catch the soul and bind it back to the flesh while some technical life existed, it¡¯s hard to say how much of the personality would return.¡± He reached out to close the man¡¯s dark and staring eyes, and then nudged closed his mouth, which had frozen in an empty, useless gape. Yuanshu stood as if his joints pained him. He approached the challenger, who froze before him, a rabbit paralyzed by an approaching wolf. A peculiar way to see the unassuming healer, but in that moment we all felt the same. The whole group of Outers¡ªmyself included¡ªtook a deep breath and held it. Technically, challenges were allowed. Technically, we had only been told to refrain from murder the first few days, and nothing had happened to Ju Jing for breaking even that gentle boundary. But the air was still heavy with anticipation and I realized that how the next minute progressed would change our experience as disciples considerably. Yuanshu gave the challenger a slow up and down look, and when his gentle gaze came to rest on the other man¡¯s face, he said, ¡°You¡¯re Younger Brother Ling, are you not?¡± ¡°I¡ªyes, Older Brother. I didn¡¯t mean to¡­¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you?¡± It was mild. Nonjudgmental, I would have said, except I felt as if I could feel something darker, scornful, in the undertones. But perhaps I was just projecting my own complicated feelings about the healer. Either way, Ling didn¡¯t answer. He flushed and looked away. Yuanshu reached for his wounded hand, and from his small bag, he took a tiny ceramic jar. He opened it and slathered some pale green salve on Ling¡¯s split knuckles. He put the jar away, studied Ling in silence for almost a full minute, long enough for Ling to visibly squirm under his gaze and a few of the watching disciples to have to finally take the breaths they had been holding. The faint gasps seemed to break whatever contemplation Yuanshu had been indulging in. He pivoted, returned to the body. ¡°Brother Zhou Hou.¡± I stiffened. ¡°As you summoned me, you can help me carry the body to the corpse house for preparation.¡± We had a corpse house? I couldn¡¯t argue. I wasn¡¯t even sure if this was an implicit rebuke for having called the apothecary. I made a hasty bow, then went to grab the disciple¡¯s feet. A sudden memory tried to intrude¡ªmy father¡¯s strong shoulders, cold and stiff beneath my hands as I grunted and heaved, dragging him over the dirt¡ªbut I pushed it away. This was not the time or place to look weak.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The disciples parted for us. Outside their loose, murmuring circle were the cinnamon robes, and as we stepped past, they began to move in, calling for chore groups as if it were any other day. Yuanshu said nothing as we carried the corpse through the misty streets of the sect. We met no one, which was unusual for this time of morning. But I knew that even cultivators had their superstitions, and spending time among the dead was bad luck. Touching them was even worse; what if in their shock and confusion after passing, they believed that it was you who had caused their demise and haunted you? Some cultivators wore masks and chose death names to wear when killing opponents so that angry ghosts couldn¡¯t find them. I hadn¡¯t killed anyone and maybe my false name would protect me, but I would leave offerings at the tiny sect shrine, nonetheless. My luck wasn¡¯t good enough to test. ¡°Here we are,¡± Yuanshu said. The corpse house was a misnomer; it was a corpse cave, carved into a rock wall, with walls of stone carved from the mountain itself. They looked heavy, and I recognized the sigils carved into them as talismans of protection, warding, and...gathering? And those were just the symbols I knew. There were hundreds more, spells far beyond my meager comprehension. And as massive as they were, the doors opened without hesitation or sound as we approached. Inside, the temperature dropped. Within three paces I could see my own breath in the air and the interior was lit by glowing blue stones instead of oil lamps. The eerie light illuminated walls carved with more talismanic symbols. This was not a temple to honor the dead. It was a place to contain them. Yuanshu guided us to a stone slab and we placed the dead disciple gently upon it. There were a half-dozen slabs just like this one but they were all empty. The house itself was barren of all life but our own. I fought the urge to wipe my hands on my outfit. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Yuanshu raised his eyebrows. ¡°We? Nothing. Your part is done. I¡¯ll attend to the alchemical preparations and one of the brothers versed in the arts of quieting the unjust dead will see to spiritual matters. Unless you wished to stay and learn how to prepare a body?¡± Involuntarily, I took a step back. He smiled a sharp-edged smile. ¡°I thought not. Then I release you to your lessons. But, Brother Zhou?¡± ¡°Yes, Older Brother?¡± I fought to keep my voice even. It may even have worked, because there was no increase of his amusement as he said, ¡°Our arrangement? I would like you to assist me after dinner. If you have the time, of course.¡± I ground my teeth. As if I had a choice. ¡°Of course, Older Brother. It would be an honor.¡± We watched each other in silence. Perhaps he, like I, was waiting for the charade to drop. But I wasn¡¯t going to be the one to do it. Eventually, he turned away. ¡°My thanks.¡± He made a peculiar picture as I retreated back towards the hazy light of the sect; bent over the corpse, his mouth moving as if he were speaking to it. Tenderly, I thought. It was not a comforting thought. * In the immediate aftermath of the disciple¡¯s death, the Outers were quiet. I attended the breathing class instead of knife lessons that day; it was easier to slip into after the teaching had begun. And I wasn¡¯t entirely sure I wanted to put Kai in front of me with a knife. Not after that. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the class was more crowded than it had been for a week. Even Zhuzhu was here for the first time since he¡¯d been released from it. When I arrived and settled into the back row, he immediately left his place and came back to stand beside me. It attracted more attention than I wanted, but I made myself smile at him. ¡°Breathing, huh?¡± ¡°Breathing,¡± he agreed. Correct breathing was a part of us now. I could feel the difference and it was hard to even remember how it had been to breathe incorrectly for the entirety of my life until recently. Like my body considered it a bad dream, best forgotten. Instead of the basics, we returners were given exercises that he said would help us better channel our breath during the use of martial and spiritual arts. Each set of breaths were intense, but brief, and paired with basic martial stances. There was time to talk between each repetition. Zhuzhu, as I suspected, didn¡¯t waste it. ¡°So? What happened?¡± ¡°We took him to the corpse house.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± A memory of the cold air sent a shiver down my spine. ¡°Creepy. It¡¯s carved into the rock, covered in protective spells. To keep the ghosts from getting out, I¡¯d bet.¡± A tension I hadn¡¯t noticed in Zhuzhu lifted. ¡°Good.¡± It was low and fervent. I couldn¡¯t help my surprised snicker. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of ghosts?¡± He glowered. ¡°Not afraid! But wary, yes. I will test myself against man, demon, or spirit beast without hesitation. But an angry ghost cares nothing for muscle or skill. They can whisper in your ear and stop your heart. They are no fit opponent for a warrior.¡± I thought about what Wai Kai, the spirit turtle, had spoken up in the dark beneath the mountain. ¡°What about necromancers? You might have to face one of those in battle one day.¡± Zhuzhu shuddered. He spit to the ground to one side to ward away trouble. ¡°Forbidden arts, practiced by cowards.¡± I didn¡¯t press the matter. Instead, I nodded, and tucked the knowledge of this unexpected weakness away for further contemplation. Not that I was planning to become a necromancer...but I had no illusions that I could face Zhuzhu head on if it came to it. If he decided one day that I was ¡®worth¡¯ fighting, I¡¯d need every trick I could muster. But it wasn¡¯t Zhuzhu who would be my immediate problem. We parted after the class and no sooner had he disappeared around a corner did a group of disciples appear around me, materializing out of the fog as if they¡¯d heard the talk of ghosts. My heart hammered in my chest even as one of them stepped forward, his features resolving from their misty blur to that of a fellow Outer. I only vaguely recognized him; I thought his name was Peng Da. Or perhaps Sing Da? It didn¡¯t matter. For me, his most relevant name in this moment was Trouble. He tilted his head up and sniffed at me, eyes narrowed and derisive. ¡°I¡¯m challenging you, Mouse.¡± I eyed the circle of watchers warily. ¡°Just you or is this just a beatdown in disguise?¡± Apparently, this offended him. He stiffened and spat out, ¡°I have honor, unlike a commoner brat like yourself. I challenge you. Do you accept? Or,¡± he sneered, ¡°are you going to run off to your ox of a friend and beg his protection?¡± There was a certain relish in the way he said it. Ah. That was what this was about. I hadn¡¯t impressed anyone. But Zhuzhu was a threat. And I wagered that this fellow, Sing or Peng Da, thought he could get under his skin by beating up his friends. He might even be right; Zhuzhu would take it as a personal affront. None of which helped me right now, and wouldn¡¯t even help me afterwards. I eyed Peng (or Sing) Da. I thought he was taking classes with one of the Inners who focused on staves, but he wasn¡¯t carrying one right now. And, tucked inside my outfit, I carried the small but wicked knife Jian had gifted me. But could I use it? I was in this sect to kill a man. This was the moment where I had to consider whether I could kill more than one. I met his eyes and took a defensive stance. ¡°I accept your challenge.¡± A pleased hiss went up from the circle; Da just nodded. I didn¡¯t reach for the knife immediately; the basic stances and moves Jian had been teaching me were not primarily about the blade. They were about understanding space and movement and applied equally well bare-handed. If I could keep the knife as a surprise, I would. One of his friends took the role of caller. I gave them a quick look, but none of them appeared interested in interrupting. They just watched, eyes gleaming in the mist. They expected to see my humiliation. Maybe even my death. I was going to do my best to show them something else. He lunged forward the second the call bounced off the walls. He had long arms and a wicked reach. I dodged to the left, spun around to threaten his flank. There was an opening there but I let it pass this time. I wanted to see what I was facing. I¡¯d only fought Kai before. It became quickly clear that he was no Kai. The demon-blooded disciple was inhumanly fast and trusted his own body to do whatever he demanded of it. Every time Kai struck at me, his knives scored my skin. I hadn¡¯t realized just how fast Kai was until I faced someone who was, like me, only human. I danced around him, surprised at how slow he was. How much he revealed with every strike, especially as he got increasingly frustrated. That was useful. His face twisted as I ducked out of the way of another blow. ¡°Mouse! Fight me or run away!¡± Chu-chu-chu. Several disciples made the mocking sounds, mouse squeaks on all sides. ¡°I¡¯m not running away,¡± I snapped. My eyes darted to the restless circle, then back to his flushed face. Using the tone I¡¯d used to drive my brother to tantrums during bouts of childhood mischief, I sing-songed, ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you can¡¯t land a punch. C¡¯mon, brother. This was your idea! Maybe you want to concede? I¡¯ll pretend it never happened.¡± Turns out it worked on more brothers than those of blood. Da snarled and leapt forward, his long arms swinging with more enthusiasm than skill. It was faster than before, but Kai would have made a contemptuous tch at how easy it was to predict. I wove like a snake through the furious strike and finally responded with blows of my own. My hands were the fangs of the snake, blunted by my will but precise. I hit his kidney with two fast blows. He staggered, tried to twist to face me. I slithered around him, pummeling his lower back and the tender organs there. Da howled in pain and rage, spun in a tremendous windmill punch that I was betting wasn¡¯t written down in any handbook of martial arts. What it lacked in elegance, it made up for in fury. I didn¡¯t quite get out of its way; my shoulder went numb from even a glancing blow and I hissed as my hand wavered out of stance. His eyes were burning as he advanced to take advantage of my moment of weakness. ¡°I was just going to send a message,¡± he wheezed, ¡°but you¡¯ve pissed me off.¡± I shook my arm to get some feeling back. ¡°Have you tried a letter? Seems like it¡¯d be less trouble for all of us.¡± I needed him angry and unthinking, so I added, ¡°Or is writing just a little too hard for you?¡± With a bellow of rage, he lunged forward. I slid to one side¡ªhe was expecting it, this time. But he wasn¡¯t expecting for me to dive to the ground and kick his knee from the side with both of my feet. It was messy. It was dirty fighting. And it worked. There was a crunch I felt through the soles of my shoes and as I flipped myself up to my feet, Da went down to the paving stones with a scream of pain. I closed in and settled my heel on his throat. Perhaps we were both thinking of the dead disciple when he froze under the touch, his eyes going so wide they bulged. I leaned forward, making it clear how much pressure I wasn¡¯t using in this moment. ¡°Concede.¡± His mouth worked. My hand crept towards the knife¡¯s hiding place. If he could power through the broken knee and keep fighting then he was out of my league. I¡¯d have to use deadly force. Our eyes met. I don¡¯t know what he read in mine. But in his, I saw anger, humiliation...and fear. He swallowed hard; I felt it under my toes. ¡°I concede,¡± he said. I withdrew immediately. There was a flicker of something in a few faces around us. More faces now, I noticed, than there had been at the start. But surprise, I recognized. Relief. And, in a few...disappointment. Those I marked. They would be problems. For now, I bowed to Da. ¡°Thank you for the opportunity to test my strength against a worthy opponent. It was a good fight and I learned much from your skill.¡± I extended my hand. ¡°Allow me to accompany you to the apothecary, Brother?¡± He weighed his options, then took my hand. From the muscle twitching in his jaw, we were not by any means friends, but I hadn¡¯t humiliated him when I could have. We¡¯d see if he¡¯d view that as honor...or weakness. For now, he allowed me to bear the slightest part of his weight as he limped towards the apothecary. And as we passed through the watchers, I caught the whispers here and there as assumptions were adjusted. Looks like the Mouse has fangs of his own. Conclaves Clandestine and Otherwise There were two more challenges before we met for dinner. Neither fatal and neither involving me, I was relieved to note. One did involve Zhuzhu, who was beaming and bruised when he settled down beside me on the broad bench. ¡°You should have gone with me,¡± he said, preening. ¡°It was a magnificent fight. I challenged Tan Liuhua. You know him?¡± The name struck a vague image in my mind ¨C a young man who wasn¡¯t tall but who was extremely broad, and all of it muscle. He was also on the logging chore teams and I¡¯d heard rumors that before coming to the sect, he¡¯d been the top wrestler in his town. ¡°He¡¯s huge!¡± Zhuzhu¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Of course. I wouldn¡¯t challenge someone smaller than me. Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± His eyes gleamed. ¡°I won, of course. But he got in a good throw. I learned how he does it. Now I just have to practice until I can do it better than he can.¡± When we¡¯d first met, he¡¯d talked about finding out what made other people strong and taking it from them. I hadn¡¯t thought much about what he might have meant. But the triumph in his tone said that this was part of it. ¡°You learned his move just from experiencing it?¡± In between big bites of rice and meat, he nodded. ¡°Not just! It takes effort. But there¡¯s nothing like being on the receiving end of a move to understand how it should feel. If you know where they put their hands on you, you can recreate it. Takes practice. Skill. The strength to endure! Luckily, I¡¯ve got all three.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...not a bad idea at all,¡± I said, thinking about how sparring with Kai had helped me handle Da. ¡°Although it means taking a lot of hits.¡± He clapped me on the back with enough strength to make my spine ache. ¡°You must suffer to learn, Laoshu! Besides,¡± his smile turned sly, ¡°I hear you had your own challenge. And won! Now they know,¡± he raised his voice to boom over the nearby tables, ¡°the Mouse is not weak!¡± I cringed, expecting laughter. Instead, while there were a few chuckles, they weren¡¯t mean-spirited, and a few of the initiates (mostly the cooking crew, I noted) cheered and pounded their fists briefly on the table before returning to their chatter with their tablemates. Across from me, Ju Jing smiled, and said, ¡°It¡¯s a fine thing to demonstrate strength. Especially here. Don¡¯t be afraid to show off a little.¡± I snorted. ¡°Says the showman. It¡¯s not like any of us could make the impression that you managed.¡± He shrugged easily, clearly not offended. I added, ¡°Has anyone challenged you?¡± ¡°No.¡± He tilted his head to one side, canting an ear towards a nearby conversation. ¡°Someone will, eventually. As they feel more confident.¡± Zhuzhu leaned forward. ¡°Will you kill them?¡± Cheerful bloodthirst colored his words. Ju Jing considered the question, then shook his head. ¡°Not unless I need to. I don¡¯t mind challenges. As you both have learned, I think, it¡¯s a good way to understand where you stand and learn new things. I don¡¯t want to discourage it.¡± Zhuzhu snorted, leaned back satisfied. ¡°Good. Fighting is life. Maybe I will challenge you sometime.¡± Ju Jing chuckled, and there was something in the low sound that sent a tiny shiver through me. Calmly, he said, ¡°I think that would be interesting.¡± Then, with only the slightest movement of his head to indicate his change in attention, he asked me, ¡°Zhou Hou, would you tell me of it? I¡¯m afraid the rumors haven¡¯t gone into detail.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Zhuzhu was quick to agree. ¡°Let us speak of our conquests, the first among many!¡± Shyly at first, then with more confidence as they listened with interest, I launched into a recitation of the fight. I left out the knife that I carried; I hadn¡¯t needed it, and I still wanted a surprise if the next challenge tried to take things to a death match. I had to admit that it was thrilling, now that it was over. Zhuzhu was openly enthusiastic about my success, and even Ju Jing seemed approving in his own, quiet way. When I was done, Zhuzhu wasted no time sharing his own victories. He told the story with an infectious enthusiasm and good-natured boasting. By the time he was finished, we¡¯d attracted a half-dozen more of the Outers and the conversation turned to which of the Inners who were willing to take students seemed to be useful, and which ones were...less so. ¡°Who are you training with in the morning?¡± someone asked me. ¡°Or did you learn how to fight before you came to the sect?¡± I hesitated. Any information about my family seemed like it could imperil my disguise, but I¡¯d already shared this much, so I said, ¡°Brother Jian. My family were scribes. No fighting here.¡± Seeking to deflect any more questions, I turned to Zhuzhu, always a reliable seeker of the center of attention. ¡°Where¡¯d you learn to fight?¡± Unfortunately, Zhuzhu just grinned and said, ¡°Wrestling livestock. Then wrestling farmers, merchants¡¯ guards, anyone who would face me. But this Brother Jian! I haven¡¯t seen him on the practice grounds. Who is he?¡± I opened my mouth, then closed it. ¡°I don¡¯t really know,¡± I admitted. ¡°I happened upon him teaching Kai,¡± I nodded towards the demon-blooded disciple, sitting by himself at the far end of the pavilion, eating his rice grain by grain. He didn¡¯t glance in my direction. ¡°And he offered to teach me if I wanted. I said yes.¡± Zhuzhu grunted. ¡°What sort of arts does he teach?¡± ¡°Small blade and hand-to-hand. A lot of dodging and defensive movements.¡± As I¡¯d hoped, the rising enthusiasm in Zhuzhu¡¯s expression dampened, although it didn¡¯t disappear. ¡°Huh. Maybe I¡¯ll drop in for a couple of lessons. Not until I¡¯ve pleased Brother Qiang with my progress, though. Once I pass the sect trials, he would make a good mentor.¡± He bared his teeth. ¡°Until I impress Xiongxiong, of course.¡± Irritation flared within me at his casual assumption that Jian would be happy to have him as a student. In the next moment, irritation faded into resignation; he was probably right. It wasn''t Zhuzhu who had been turned away from the other classes. I made myself smile and tease, ¡°Going straight for the Bear, huh?¡± ¡°Pig and Bear are a pleasing combination! Strong, fierce, and not to be trifled with.¡± Another of those bone-shaking back claps. ¡°I¡¯m sure there would be room for a Mouse with fangs when the time comes.¡± I laughed and shook my head. ¡°Not for me, I think.¡± One of the other disciples broke in, ¡°You said you were training with Brother Kai?¡± I only now noticed the uneasy looks that several members of the group threw in his direction. ¡°What¡¯s he like?¡± ¡°Uh.¡± How did I answer that without provoking a challenge from Kai I wouldn¡¯t win? ¡°He¡¯s a strong fighter. One of the best I¡¯ve seen.¡± Another disciple scoffed, ¡°And as a scribe, you¡¯ve seen a lot of warriors, surely.¡± He narrowed his eyes at Kai. ¡°He doesn¡¯t look so tough.¡± The first disciple replied, ¡°Challenge him. If you think he¡¯s easy pickings.¡± ¡°Maybe I will,¡± the second snapped, his cheeks coloring. ¡°When I choose.¡± There was more laughter around the circle of disciples and this time it wasn¡¯t so good-natured. I didn¡¯t want to provoke someone into challenging Kai. Not because I thought he¡¯d lose, but because I wasn¡¯t sure he wouldn¡¯t kill whoever faced him. Before the teasing could escalate, I said, ¡°What¡¯s everyone doing after dinner?¡± ¡°Drinking!¡± That was Zhuzhu, immediately, but he was seconded by several of the others. ¡°You should come with us for once.¡± For the first time, I was tempted. I hadn¡¯t tried to socialize much with the other disciples and basking in positive attention and even camaraderie was unexpectedly seductive. I opened my mouth to agree. Then nearly choked on it as I remembered Yuanshu. ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± I said, hastily. ¡°But maybe another night?¡± Zhuzhu groaned. ¡°Maybe another night. It¡¯s all you say!¡± A child¡¯s pout looked wrong on such an oversized man. ¡°It¡¯s almost like you don¡¯t like us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not it! I just can¡¯t tonight, that¡¯s all.¡± Most of the time, Zhuzhu gave up after one attempt. This time, his mouth pulled down into a stubborn frown. ¡°What can you need to do? And don¡¯t say sleep! You¡¯ve been victorious in battle. We should celebrate!¡± ¡°Maybe he¡¯s found a hidden courtesan and is courting her,¡± said a quiet disciple, his smile sly. My face went hot and from the hoots from the others it was obvious that I¡¯d gone red as clay. His eyebrows arched. ¡°Wait. Did you?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°If not a courtesan¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not courting anyone,¡± I said, far too loud. Heads at other tables turns and if I thought I could have gotten away with it, I would have crawled under the table. Even Kai¡¯s black eyes seemed, at a distance, to shift in my direction. ¡°I have practice assignments from Jian. That¡¯s all!¡± Just as Zhuzhu leaned forward to say something else, Ju Jing said, ¡°Leave him alone.¡± Zhuzhu¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Just having a little fun with a friend. It¡¯s none of your business.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m just looking out for a friend.¡± Ju Jing wasn¡¯t looking at either of us; his closed eyes were pointed vaguely towards the walls of the inner sect. ¡°What he does with his time is his business.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I cut in. ¡°I know they¡¯re just teasing. It¡¯s okay. But,¡± I nudged Zhuzhu, ¡°it¡¯s really not a big deal. I¡¯ll come out tomorrow night. For sure.¡± It mollified him, but his gaze lingered on Ju Jing¡¯s serene features. ¡°Tomorrow night.¡± Then his sunny, uncomplicated smile returned. ¡°Guess that means tonight I don¡¯t have to save any of the wine!¡± We finished our dinner in merry chatter. I watched Ju Jing, and caught up with him as we went to put up our bowls. ¡°Hey,¡± I said, softly. ¡°Thanks.¡± He dipped his head in acknowledgment and waited for me to put my bowl in the proper place before following suit. I suspected the sound of the dishes clanking against one another guided him. His voice was equally soft. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t let people question your decisions, Zhou Hou. Or feel obligated to explain or defend them. To many people, it looks like weakness.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. We can¡¯t all murder the people who mock us. I didn¡¯t say it. I even felt bad for thinking it. Ju Jing had his reasons for the way he handled things. From what I¡¯d seen in the sect so far, I can¡¯t even say he was wrong. If he hadn¡¯t scared the rest of the Outers, the bullying would only have escalated. But I still didn¡¯t understand how he¡¯d jumped to death so quickly. Slowly, I said, ¡°I understand what you¡¯re saying. But I don¡¯t want to make enemies I don¡¯t have to. I¡¯d rather have friends.¡± I lightened my voice. ¡°Like you, apparently?¡± He turned to face me, to my surprise. A smile, thin and sharp like the knife tucked away in my outfit, played on his lips. ¡°Surprised? Just remember: not everyone who calls themselves a friend is one.¡± With that, Ju Jing bowed slightly and then swept away. Did he mean Zhuzhu? Or himself? * After dinner, I went back to my little room. The unexpected interest during the meal had made me a little paranoid. I wanted to make sure that no one followed me. The sound of revelry faded in the distance as most of the other disciples went to pick up a supply of wine and then to the baths for drinking and socializing. Another pang of wistfulness hit me at the thought. I didn¡¯t even care for drink or the boisterous conversation but the sensation of being apart was something I was starting to keenly feel. Back in my village, I¡¯d never worried about fitting in. My family was liked and respected and there were plenty of other girls to spend the occasional idle moment with. And after their deaths, preparing for this plan had taken up every part of my mind. Companionship hadn¡¯t seemed important. Not when the rage and grief was all I could think about. Now? Perhaps as I settled into the routine of the sect, both were starting to subside. That was dangerous. I needed the rage. I needed to remember the faces of my family, agonized in death. I couldn¡¯t waver. No one in this sect was¡ªor could be¡ªmy friend. Only a convenient tool or, perhaps, an ally if I could find any rivals or enemies Elder Sun had within the Inners. Speaking of¡ªthe sounds had faded enough that I felt comfortable ducking out my room and making my way through the dark mist to Yuanshu¡¯s building. Despite the hour, lights glowed behind paper shades. I headed to the door, but before I could consider whether to call out or just open it and slip inside, it slid open and the healer appeared in the doorway, beckoning me inside. As I entered, he looked me over. ¡°I understand congratulations on surviving your first duel are in order.¡± ¡°Is everyone talking about it?¡± His brown eyes warmed to that deceptive mild amusement that made it so hard to properly mistrust him. ¡°It¡¯s a quiet time for the sect. It brings out more gossip than usual. And cultivators already gossip more than bored grandmothers. There¡¯s even betting pools on various Outers.¡± His smile was smug. ¡°You¡¯ve won me a handful of spirit stones already. Keep it up.¡± ¡°I should get a cut,¡± I muttered. He laughed, then pointed at a leather bag. ¡°You¡¯re carrying that. Don¡¯t drop it.¡± The bag was heavy. It was tied shut, but sharp, herbal scents still drifted up to my nose. I fought the urge to sneeze. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± He slid open a door I hadn¡¯t been through before, and waved me inside, saying, ¡°Mind the array,¡± as I passed by. It was a needed warning: I nearly tripped over something just inside the door. The room was small and the wind, which was an ever-present background noise everywhere else in the sect, was silenced. My ears rang with the quiet even as I edged around the design drawn in dark lines on the floor. I looked at what I¡¯d almost tripped over and couldn¡¯t help the sound I made. ¡°Is that a real skull?¡± ¡°It is indeed,¡± Yuanshu said as he closed the door behind us. ¡°All that remains of a great sage.¡± He pointed at other points in the design and I realized that each one was also a bone, filigreed with gold and studded with pale jade. ¡°They make excellent conduits for qi. Have you ever seen an array before?¡± ¡°No.¡± I was fascinated despite myself. I¡¯d heard of arrays in stories, but their capabilities seemed so far beyond the mortal that I hadn¡¯t credited even half the tales. ¡°What does this one do?¡± He gestured towards the center, where a circular space was cleared. ¡°Stand there and you¡¯ll find out.¡± My knees locked. Arrays could do anything. Twist your mind and heart, transform your body, trap you in a world of illusion. Kill you outright, if they were built in the right way. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just tell me before I step in there, Elder Brother?¡± Yuanshu smiled. ¡°Because I don¡¯t have to." He stepped into the center. ¡°Come or leave. You know the consequences of at least one choice.¡± I fought against the urge to grind my teeth. How could a man who seemed so mild and pleasant on the surface be such a bastard underneath? I hated even more that he was right; technically I had a choice, but little could be worse than letting my secret get out. The sect would kill me. Or worse. I stepped delicately over the lines of the array and stood in the center, too close to him for my comfort. Close enough that I could smell the camphor and ginseng that rose from his clothes, no doubt from the work making medicines. His smile was brief, an infuriating mixture of approval and amusement. Then he raised one hand, sketched a single sigil¡ªone I didn¡¯t recognize¡ªinto the air. The world exploded into tiny pieces around me, and in the next moment, I followed. I felt my body shredding into countless tiny, feeling pieces only to be jammed back together just as unkindly as the world reassembled itself. I couldn¡¯t help throwing up. I could help which way I faced. So I turned towards Yuanshu and unloaded all over his clothes before I staggered to one side and fell to my knees. The heavy bag banged into my thigh, a solid and comforting weight. For the first time, I was actively grateful to have knees. Yuanshu made wordless noises of irritation as he stripped away his outer robes and tossed them to the side of the room. The fact that he had to toss them is what made me realize that this room was much larger. I looked up, revised the thought. This cave was much larger. Rough-hewn walls arched, lit by a green-gold cluster of glowing lights that hovered with no apparent source or support near the ceiling. Shelves had been carved into the walls and teemed with the tools of the alchemist¡¯s trade...none of which I could name and only a few I could recognize. There was an alchemical furnace at one end of the room, and although I wasn¡¯t well-versed in the craft, even I could tell that this was a masterpiece: the bronze was carved into a coiling dragon, its eyes polished, black stone, and someone had clearly kept it meticulously clean. I stood on shaking legs. ¡°That was the worst thing I¡¯ve ever experienced.¡± My voice was rough and the taste of vomit still on my tongue. Yuanshu sighed at his robe. ¡°I suppose I should have warned you about the effects of a teleportation array. They can be unsettling if you aren¡¯t used to them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m walking out of here. Where are we?¡± He crossed his arms over his undergarments. ¡°If you can manage that trick, I¡¯ll let you do it.¡± A nod at the walls. ¡°See any tunnels?¡± ¡°There have to be¡ª¡± I turned a complete circle and groaned. There were no doors, passages, or portals to be seen. The gave was a perfect bubble, encased in the earth. Immortals, I thought with as much disgust as I could muster. Another painful teleportation was clearly in my future. Unwilling to dwell on it, my attention turned to the other notable feature of the room. The body strapped to a stone table near the center of the room. ¡°Is that...a spirit beast?¡± It seemed wrong to call the figure a ¡°beast¡± as it was nearly humanoid. Not as human as Kai, but all the regular features were there ¨C it had a human body, four limbs, a head and even something like hair. But its body was made of some pulsing, grey material that lit up with flickers of color that were there and gone in an instant. Instead of two eyes, it had three and one was vertical, right in the center of its forehead. All three were glazed and unseeing under a crown of...I supposed you could call it hair, but it was more like solid mist than anything else. Despite myself, it was fascinating, and I drifted closer. ¡°Is it dead?¡± I¡¯d never seen a spirit beast. An affinity for qi was required to see or interact with most of them. Only the greater beasts could manifest for more than an attack or brief interaction. And I¡¯d heard that once a spirit beast was dead, they dissolved into qi, except for their soul, which became a mighty pearl that cultivators highly prized. Yuanshu approached the table. ¡°Mostly. Not entirely. If it were entirely dead, I couldn¡¯t hold it like this.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± He flicked his fingers dismissively. ¡°A minor storm spirit. One of hundreds in the clouds that surround the sect. You haven¡¯t soiled the bag, have you?¡± I checked. ¡°No. Just your clothing.¡± This was the space where an apology to my elder brother should have gone, but I just let the silence stretch. Yuanshu only smiled. ¡°Good. And don¡¯t worry. Your assistance tonight is simply to do what I tell you to do. Open it up and find me the blue ceramic pot painted with a white fish.¡± While I was willing to be sullen, I wouldn¡¯t defy a direct order. Especially when he was my only way of getting out of this cave. I rooted around in the bag, which was filled with a ridiculous number of small pots, until I found the right one and offered it over to him. He took it with an approving nod. ¡°Good. Stand there, to my right, and we¡¯ll begin.¡± As Yuanshu worked, with frequent requests for various pots from the bag, I found myself hoping that the spirit was entirely, completely dead. Or at least unable to feel what the healer was doing to it. With graceful slices of his fingers, he cut through the flesh¡ªwhich was strangely gelatinous and did not bleed¡ªin a dozen places. In some cases he applied the contents of the pots, causing the flesh to twist and change. When it hardened to cloudy shards that flickered with internal lightning, he chipped these from the spirit¡¯s body and filled another small pot¡ªthis one copper with the image of a cloud burned into the side¡ªand handed it to me to store. Once he was satisfied with that unsettling harvest, he sliced down the center of its breastbone. Or, well, where one would be on a human. The flesh parted like mist, but when Yuanshu went to reach inside, it closed back up. As delicate and diffuse as it seemed, it still resisted the touch of his hand. His lips thinned and he turned to examine one of the nearby shelves. I couldn¡¯t stop staring at the beast¡¯s face. And it was a face, despite the third eye. A beautiful face, in a way that was neither feminine or masculine, with sculpted lips and high cheekbones. If there were three eyes, they were all three attractive in their way, or would have been if they were lively. Instead of white, the background of the eye was gray. In the center was a dark, stormy pupil that didn¡¯t react to light or even when I waved my hand over its face. ¡°What are you even doing to it?¡± I asked as Yuanshu returned with a set of acupuncture needles. ¡°There are substances that I require for the creation of medicines the sect needs.¡± He sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, our brethren do not care how difficult those substances are to acquire, particularly when we have a treaty with the creatures in question.¡± I froze. ¡°...I¡¯m guessing that treaty doesn¡¯t involve occasionally grabbing one and harvesting what you need from them?¡± He looked up from where he was carefully inserting the needles into the body. Little sparks of lightning chased from needlepoint to needlepoint. ¡°Now you start to see the problem.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you need me, then.¡± His tone warmed with approval. ¡°It¡¯s always easier with an assistant, but I need one who can be discreet.¡± His gaze fell back to his work. ¡°Of course, I should point out that if you¡¯re thinking of exposing my indiscretion? It would be inconvenient for me, but I¡¯m of value to the sect. Your deception? I would not say the same for you.¡± ¡°I know that. I¡¯m not going to tattle.¡± No matter how much I wanted to. ¡°But at least tell me what you¡¯re actually doing. You promised that I would learn things.¡± ¡°I did, didn¡¯t I? Very well. I¡¯m going to harvest the soul pearl from the creature¡¯s chest. However, I want its spiritual resonance to be of a very specific flavor. Agony or despair are no use to me. Since it is resisting me, I¡¯m using acupuncture to soothe it and change the emotional resonance. That way the soul pearl will be unsullied when I recover it.¡± He inserted another needle and to my surprise, a wave of color rippled through the spirit, from dark gray to a soft blue, then a pure white that reminded me of fluffy summer clouds. Yuanshu made a pleased noise. ¡°There we go. Let¡¯s hold that for a moment¡ªhere, I¡¯m going to need your help.¡± He made a motion with his finger and that long slit parted on its chest. ¡°Two fingers on either side, pull apart gently but firmly.¡± I have to touch it? I bit back the protest and shoved my fingers into the gap with a silent, shameful apology to the creature. The flesh was spongy and wet under my fingers and I was suddenly glad that I¡¯d already emptied the contents of my stomach as I pulled it apart. The slit became a trough, and at its lowest point, I could see a shimmering blue bubble of some sort. Yuanshu reached in, not with his fingers, but with delicate, silver tongs. I didn¡¯t want to see the moment when the creature died, its soul removed, so I glanced up at its face, instead. All three eyes were focused on my face, sparking with a lightning so fierce that I expected to hear thunder. ¡°...Elder Brother.¡± ¡°Not now. I¡¯ll explain when I¡¯m done¡ª¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s waking up!¡± Too late. The fluffy white flesh turned black, like the heart of the worst sort of tempest. Yuanshu cursed and I yanked my fingers back as a bolt of bright blue lightning shot out of its chest and struck the healer dead on. He flew through the air to slam into the stone with the sound of falling crockery. The spirit opened its mouth and I had only a moment to think, oh, so there¡¯s the thunder, before the wave crashed over me and sent me sprawled to the ground on my rear end. I flung myself to the side, scrambling to hide behind. It howled, winds raising from nothing to swirl around it, growing ever stronger. And beneath that, an even worse sound. The bindings that held it to the table were cracking. Tempest in a Teapot Panic skittered through my body like rats. If I panic, I¡¯ll die. The thought of my death only made the blood roar louder in my ears as I scrambled along the floor, dodging items from the shelves as the wind scooped them up and hurled them around the cave. I headed for Yuanshu, my heart stopping as I saw his crumpled form. Blood smeared the wall where he¡¯d struck, but when I placed a hand on his chest, it rose beneath my fingers. ¡°Wake up,¡± I hissed, fisting the thin cloth and giving him a hard shake. ¡°Wake up and deal with this!¡± He didn¡¯t stir, and I cursed. A pot shattered next to my head, exploding into a ball of green fire. I yelped and rolled away, smacking at the bits of flame that clung to my hair. Right. Not only was I trapped in a cave with no exit, it was a cave filled with alchemist¡¯s toys. The spirit could kill me just by smashing the wrong two elixirs together and flooding the air with poison gas or something. With a shattering sound, one of the bonds came free and the spirit¡¯s arm rose, boneless and misty. It clawed at the air as if it might climb out of its captivity. But, for now, the other three bonds held. It wailed in an unearthly register, one that set my ears to ringing. Its struggles intensified, and so did the tornado around it. The wind pushed me along the floor until I hit the wall. Desperate, I cried out, ¡°Parley! I didn¡¯t imprison you. I would parley with you, awesome spirit.¡± ¡°Release me!¡± The shriek sent a stab of pain through my skull. ¡°If I can, will you spare me?¡± ¡°Release me or your death will make the heavens themselves weep!¡± Did spirits boast or lie? I had no idea. I knew they could deceive, but that wasn¡¯t quite the same thing, and I had heard that a spirit could be bound by its word if freely given. I flung myself to the side before a pot of stinging weeds crashed into my chest. ¡°If I can release you, you must swear to spare me!¡± The spirit¡¯s free arm flung itself towards my voice, stretching out until it was nearly invisible, a wisp tipped with a hand that crackled with lightning. I jumped to my feet and ran, just ahead of the bolts that cracked stone and filled the air with the sharp scent of an oncoming storm. ¡°I¡¯m trying to help us both out,¡± I yelled, then dived away from the spirit¡¯s retribution. ¡°I will flay your flesh down to your bones!¡± I suppose I couldn¡¯t expect a storm to be reasonable about these things. I dove for the ground again and cringed as the apothecary¡¯s bag hit the stone. Something inside cracked. I hoped whatever it was wasn¡¯t going to explode. With that thought came another. I carefully opened it. To my relief, whatever was broken inside didn¡¯t seem to involve flames, poison, or I don¡¯t know, spirit wasps. I searched for a particular jar; the one I¡¯d seen Yuanshu open before, to harden the spirit¡¯s flesh. Red clay, tin stopper, black wind symbol...there we go! Clutching my prize, I shrugged off the bag and left it on the floor. There were probably more useful things in there, but I didn¡¯t know what they were, and chucking things at random was more likely to kill me than the spirit. The jar was large, my fingers didn¡¯t meet around it, and Yuanshu had used only a sprinkle or two to create his crystals. I seized the stopper and pulled. It had only recently been refastened, and came loose with the grind of metal on ceramic. Inside, dull gray powder shifted as I tilted the pot to better see inside. I was careful, despite the urgency. I had absolutely no desire to find out what this might do to mortal flesh. On the table, another binding gave way with a crack and flash of light. The spirit rose into a sitting position, its furious gaze crackling with power as it swept the floor. It took no time at all for it to find me. Its hands rose, lightning twisting between them. I popped to my feet and thought the shortest (but most fervent) of prayers to the goddess of mercy. Then I flung the contents of the pot into the spirit¡¯s face. An unassuming puff of gray settled over its skin and it actually stopped shrieking for a moment to blink at me with all three eyes, surprise and offense there in equal measure. Until the powder¡¯s effects took hold. The spirit screamed, its attack forgotten as the flesh of its face began to bubble, then to harden. One eye was stuck closed as the eyelid froze in place, and the parts of the spirit that were becoming solid pulled away from its other parts in a way that looked horribly painful. Its chest still bore Yuanshu¡¯s needles...and the gash in the center of their circle. As it writhed, the slit gaped and I could see the glimmer of cold blue deep inside. The contents of the jar were agonizing, clearly, but they didn¡¯t seem to be enough to kill it. I lunged forward and jammed my fingers into the wound. The gelid flesh clung to my skin, bitterly cold the closer I got to that shimmering blue light. The spirit¡¯s claws struck at my head and raked through my hair, tearing into my scalp. The storm-scent sharpened and I braced myself. The lightning struck just as my fingers curled around the soul pearl. It wasn¡¯t pain. I had no words for the sensation of being impaled by that celestial bolt, but it was too overwhelming to be called merely pain. My whole body convulsed, both hands closing into fists as my vision whited out. I know there are moments there I don¡¯t remember. Moments that I don¡¯t want to remember. When my sense returned, I was reeling back from the table, the soul pearl clutched in my hand, the scent of my own burnt skin and hair thick in my nose. The spirit was breaking apart, dissolving into silver-blue mist. All except its face, which fell to the table with a crystalline chime just as I fell to my rear end on the stone. My skin and muscles were still twitching and I could feel blood from my torn scalp running hot down my back. What I couldn¡¯t feel was the hand with the pearl. It was still clutched tight around it. The fingertips were a blue-gray that seemed wrong for flesh. I remembered how very cold it had been in the moment I¡¯d touched it. With a whimper, I pried my fingers open¡ªthe nails had embedded themselves in the heel of my hand. The pearl fell out. It was a beautiful thing, shimmering and deeply blue, but with hints of golden lightning flickering in its depths. My hand was the opposite of beautiful. The pearl had burned every piece of my skin it touched with its bitter cold, leaving a perfect circle of black, frosted and flaking skin in the center of my palm, and similar burns along the inside of my fingers. I couldn¡¯t feel it. That was probably for the best. Yuanshu was still sprawled unconscious against the wall. Some part of me, the same part that dreamed of Sun Feiyun broken and weeping at my feet, wanted to crawl over there and cut his throat. Or at least kick him in the face a few times for my trouble. But the damned man was my only way out of the wrecked cave, and probably the only way to fix my hand. I dragged my legs into a meditative pose and settled into wait, and to breathe. I can¡¯t say how long it was before the healer stirred. Long enough for my legs to stop twitching and the first fiery pangs of feeling to return to my hand. It was more abrupt than I¡¯d expected; a sudden shift in his breathing, and then Yuanshu was on his feet, hands coming up in a defensive pose. I had spent a good portion of the wait practicing the way I sniffed with all the disdain I could muster and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I killed it. While you were out cold.¡± The way his expression twisted into shock was everything I¡¯d hoped for. He stared at me, then staggered to the table. ¡°Is this...its face?¡± ¡°Probably. I threw some of your materials at it and while it was distracted, I yanked out the soul pearl.¡± I gestured with my good hand towards it. ¡°With your bare hands?¡± Now, I lifted my other hand so he could see the damage. The widening of his eyes was deeply gratifying. He reached for the back of his head, grimaced at the sticky mess he no doubt found there. Then took a longer look at me. ¡°That is remarkable. Remarkably lucky, no doubt...but you¡¯re bleeding. And burnt.¡± ¡°But not dead,¡± I pointed out.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Not dead.¡± It was faint, like he didn¡¯t believe it. After a moment, he added, more carefully, ¡°And you saved my life.¡± I nodded to the array. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to make it work, Yuanshu. And as you pointed out, there¡¯s no other way back to the sect. I don¡¯t even know where we are!¡± ¡°Actually, not far from the sect¡ªthe next mountain over. The one without the murderous spirit stalking its interior.¡± His voice was dry. ¡°I thought it safest.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°It seems I owe you some gratitude. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll believe me, but I genuinely didn¡¯t intend for you to come to any harm assisting me.¡± His mild brown eyes were sorrowful, soft with regret. Luckily, I¡¯d been around him enough that I didn¡¯t buy it for a moment. ¡°Patching me up and getting me back to the sect is a good way to start if you¡¯re feeling sorry.¡± Yuanshu hesitated. There was something else he wanted to say; I could see it behind his eyes. But he pulled it back before it could escape. What he said instead was, ¡°Yes. I suppose it would be. Unfortunately, my lab is wrecked. I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ll have to teleport again.¡± ¡°I was afraid of that.¡± I wobbled my way to my feet and tried to smile. ¡°I feel so terrible that the array can¡¯t make it worse.¡± I turned out to be wrong about that, but my stomach was already empty, so I only retched a couple of times before staggering out of the room. Yuanshu guided me to one of his tables and settled me on it. By this time, I was feeling hot, waves of pain radiating from my scalp and down to my wounded hand, which was throbbing and swelling in alarming fashion. ¡°Here. Open your mouth and take these.¡± Yuanshu lifted two pills towards me. I flinched away. ¡°What are they?¡± Neither looked like the dark green healing elixirs that I¡¯d taken before. ¡°One is a healing pill, but it¡¯s stronger than what you¡¯ve dealt with before. It might be too strong, if I¡¯m honest. But it¡¯s the only option to save your hand. The other is a medicine to help deal with the first problem¡ªit¡¯ll stimulate your meridians and help you to process the excess qi with a minimum of damage to your body.¡± ¡°Minimum?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Less damage than you have right now.¡± A pause, before he added. ¡°Probably.¡± I took the pills and popped them in my mouth. One, the healing pill I guessed, was bright and refreshing when I broke it between my teeth, the medicine going to work immediately. The other pill was surprisingly sweet, making an odd but not unpleasant combination on my tongue. Qi rushed through me in a wave of light and energy. I could feel my wounds starting to mend, knitting together much faster than they had with the pills I¡¯d taken before. I couldn¡¯t resist turning my head to watch my hand. The skin was flaking off, which made me regret my decision. I could see muscle beneath, pink and striated, before new skin started to crawl over to cover it. The throbbing of the frostbite was replaced with a tingling warmth. ¡°Wow.¡± Yuanshu chuckled. ¡°It is rather impressive. That¡¯s one of the reasons I chose alchemy as my specialty, you know.¡± His voice was soft. ¡°I wanted to heal the greatest of wounds.¡± I looked from my hand to his face. ¡°Seven Striking Thunder doesn¡¯t seem like the kind of sect for that.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t it?¡± He smiled, just a little. ¡°I suppose not. But once you pass the trials, you¡¯ll find that the sect is quite accepting of all manner of research and pursuits. We are not all malicious reavers. We simply don¡¯t wish to be blocked in our pursuit of true enlightenment by the arbitrary laws of Heaven.¡± He leaned forward. ¡°You should consider that righteous sects would not necessarily take on someone whose stated goal was vengeance.¡± I flexed my hand, slowly. It moved under its own power, and looked almost as good as new. Except for the perfect circle in the center of my palm, a circle of skin that had a strange, blue tinge to it. ¡°If someone hadn¡¯t been threatening to kill me, I wouldn¡¯t have had to state a goal. Is that something righteous sects do?¡± I turned my hand to show him the palm. ¡°And is this something I should be worried about?¡± He glanced down at it, and shook his head. ¡°Not medically. Spiritually...you¡¯re a mortal who slew a spirit with your bare hands. There are sometimes consequences for such acts.¡± I groaned, closed my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m tired of consequences.¡± There was a chuckle above me. ¡°Sometimes consequences are positive.¡± I¡¯d believe it when I saw it. * I arrived early and underslept to lessons with Jian, having escaped from breakfast as soon as I could without attracting attention from Zhuzhu. The qi of the healing pill was still working within me. I felt...amazing. Unless I sat still for more than half a minute. Then I started to feel nauseous and jittery. Even sleeping had been near impossible. So when I entered the little courtyard, I was momentarily disappointed to realize we¡¯d have to wait for Kai to begin the sparring. Momentarily, because Jian favored me with a smile. A genuine, proud smile. ¡°Ah, Younger Brother. I was hoping you¡¯d arrive before our other student. I have something for you.¡± I froze, torn between surprise and wariness. ¡°For me?¡± He inclined his head and drew from the sleeve of his robe a simple book of some sort, bound in the butterfly fashion. I took it on instinct as he offered, and unfolded it carefully. The interior was packed with lines of calligraphy and painted sketches of a figure in various poses and positions. ¡°This is¡­¡± ¡°A manual for one of the simplest of the secret arts of Dancing Viper style. Study it. You will not be able to comprehend the true depth of the technique until you¡¯ve laid your Foundation and broken through to the next phase in cultivation. But it should be useful for you, nonetheless.¡± ¡°But...why?¡± My heart skipped a beat. Had Yuanshu somehow found a way to tell the other Inners that I¡¯d killed a spirit? Jian cocked his head to one side. ¡°I understand you were challenged, and won. Triumph should be rewarded. In the future, you may be able to claim a bounty from the body of a fallen opponent, but none of you have anything worth taking so I decided to supplement it.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± It was relief more than joy, and Jian¡¯s brow furrowed. I hastily added, ¡°This is...I¡¯m sorry, Elder Brother, I just didn¡¯t expect anything like this. I sort of thought winning was its own reward.¡± He snorted, relaxing. ¡°There are times when it is. But if my students find success, I reward them. And,¡± his gaze became searching, ¡°if you fear that it¡¯s some unusual favoritism, I assure you that it is not. Most of the disciples who won their challenges may be receiving similar rewards from others in the sect.¡± If Zhuzhu did, I was sure I¡¯d hear about it. I glanced down at the delicate paper accordion and took a deep breath. Here was the way to gain power and maybe start finding ways that I might weaken or overcome Sun Feiyun. ¡°Thank you, Elder Brother. I will do my best to honor the art, and your teaching.¡± ¡°I should hope so,¡± he replied, more amused than anything. ¡°But for now, put it away. If I were you, I¡¯d tell no one that you have it¡ªno one in the sect will stop another Outer, or even an Inner, from taking it by force.¡± ¡°No one?¡± His expression remained serene. ¡°No one. If you are not strong enough to hold what you have, Younger Brother, then you have no right to it.¡± His eyes flicked past me. ¡°Kai is coming.¡± I hastily shoved the book through my interspacial ring. Just in time, as Kai strode into the courtyard, his black eyes fathomless and unreadable. He looked me up and down and I tried my best not to look like someone who had received a secret arts manual from the teacher he was clearly possessive of. His eyes narrowed as he looked from me to Jian and back. But all he said was, ¡°I understand you didn¡¯t completely humiliate yourself yesterday, Mouse.¡± Zhou Hou. I bit back the correction. It would only let him know that the nickname irritated me. Instead, I bowed. ¡°Thank you for the compliment, Brother Kai. I didn¡¯t seek the challenge, but I¡¯m glad that my performance did not shame our teachings. Sparring with you was most helpful.¡± Kai froze. His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. Until he looked away with a tch of disdain. Jian smiled to see it. ¡°How interesting. Perhaps you would walk us through the details of your challenge. We can use that conflict as the basis of today¡¯s lesson.¡± The best part about the lesson that followed was how outraged Kai became at having to act out the movements of the slower Da and worse to do it under my instruction. I paid for it afterwards¡ªonce we¡¯d practiced our forms and were given leave to spar, Kai¡¯s twin blades sought out every weakness in my guard with merciless speed and precision. But the qi infused in my body provided me with the strength and speed to counter one or two of the blows, the last time deflecting the force of his attack so completely that he actually stumbled. He spun around, eyes rounded with shock. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough for today,¡± Jian said. He, too, was looking at me with more than his usual intensity, and I suspected that an Inner Disciple could see far more than Kai, demon-blooded though he was. ¡°Good work, both of you. Brother Zhou, I would like to see you practice that deflect more. Once is good, but not good enough. Kai, once again, your¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªfootwork. I know,¡± Kai said, kicking the stone beneath his foot as if it were to blame for his unsteadiness. When he looked up to find Jian watching him, he cleared his throat and ducked his head in apology. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the interruption, Elder Brother.¡± ¡°Of course. You aren¡¯t wrong. Your footwork is your focus. Although,¡± a slight smile graced the cultivator¡¯s face, ¡°I confess I¡¯m surprised to see you lag behind Brother Zhou in the area of dueling. Not a single challenge?¡± Kai stiffened, instantly furious. I watched the scales on his face become more prominent as his skin flushed. ¡°No one has dared challenge me. Laoshu was thought to be an easy win.¡± ¡°And are you so timid that you must wait for someone to challenge you?¡± Jian asked, mildly. I swallowed hard as Kai¡¯s fury visibly increased. What was the Inner doing? I readied myself for a challenge, possibly to the death, as Kai¡¯s gaze raked over me. But he continued to turn and stalked off without another word, his movements deadly and graceful. I was more than grateful that those movements were carrying him away. ¡°He¡¯s going to go pick a fight with the first Outer he finds,¡± I snapped at Jian. Who only shrugged and grinned. ¡°Clearly not, for here you are. No, I think he¡¯ll pick a fight with the most powerful Outer that he finds. Or whoever he thinks is most powerful. It¡¯ll be a good experience for him, whether he wins or loses.¡± ¡°Not if he gets killed!¡± ¡°Death is also an experience, Younger Brother. Now, run along. I believe you should have some time to start studying your manual before dinner.¡± He turned to go, but paused. ¡°Zhou Hou?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Be careful the medications you take. Too much qi can block or burn out your meridians.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t¡ª¡± The lie died in my throat under his gaze. I cleared my throat. ¡°Yes, Older Brother. Thank you for the advice.¡± ¡°Hm.¡± With that, he was gone. Qi Giveth and Qi Taketh Away The healing pill ran its course and my organs rebelled. Where before I¡¯d felt energized, fast, almost bursting with energy, now my stomach roiled with nausea and I hurt as if I were in the throes of a deep winter flu. The kind that kills you. I struggled to keep it off my face and out of my movements as I dropped onto a bench for dinner. I only had rice and a bit of broth and seasoning; everything else smelled spicy and threatened to send my stomach into outright rebellion. I told myself it was fine. I¡¯d be absolutely fine once I got through the meal. So, predictably, Ju Jing immediately asked, ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Which, in turn, made Zhuzhu turn and pay more attention to me than to his bowl of dinner. ¡°Another challenge so soon?¡± It was colored with indignation and he looked about ready to start a fight. ¡°I¡¯m fine. No other challenges! It was just a hard practice. Brother Jian felt that winning a fight meant I could be pushed harder. I¡¯m exhausted.¡± It had the benefit of being at least twenty percent true. Every part of me ached, and I didn¡¯t think it was all the qi backlash. Just...eighty percent of it. Zhuzhu grabbed a piece of meat with his chopsticks and lifted it to his mouth. Then stopped. ¡°You need more exercise if training exhausts you.¡± My eyes were locked on that dangling strip of meat. At the sect, they cooked just about everything rare, seared on the outside but still glistening and barely cooked on the inside. I didn¡¯t know if it was because cultivators should be too tough for food poisoning or if the quality of the meat they got was just such that they didn¡¯t fear parasites. Normally, I was a fan of the meat, tender and juicy with a heat-crusted exterior. But right now, looking at that glistening hunk of flesh, moist and about to drip, my guts made a sound that sent Ju Jing¡¯s eyebrows skyward. I clapped a hand over my mouth and staggered to my feet, heading away from the pavilion and the smells of rich, horrible food. I leaned against a wall and focused on my breathing. If I could dampen the pain of a cut or a broken arm with proper breathing, it had to be able to work on an uneasy stomach. In. Out. In. Out. Follow the pulse of the mountain. Reach down to the earth and up to the heavens. Find that stable, strong place between. The sounds from my guts quieted, the roiling of my stomach set more at ease. But not gone entirely. There was something wrong inside of me. ¡°Zhou Hou?¡± I stiffened at Ju Jing¡¯s voice. I hadn¡¯t even heard him approach. I turned, putting my back to the wall. For support more than wariness. He was standing well out of reach, hands clasped carefully before him, his expression concerned even with the closed eyes and averted face. ¡°It¡¯s alright. I¡¯m fine,¡± I said, with another steadying breath. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to check on me.¡± ¡°No,¡± he agreed. ¡°I didn¡¯t. Should we go to the healer?¡± ¡°No!¡± It rocked him back on his heels, just a little. I winced. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not¡ªa small imbalance of my internals. Nothing to bother the healer about. I can sleep it off.¡± ¡°Mm.¡± It was the smallest of noises, and yet it held such a world of skepticism that I found myself stung by it. ¡°What are you hming about? I¡¯m not so weak that a little rest won¡¯t fix me up.¡± He smiled. ¡°No doubt. I was just somewhat doubtful about how much rest you would get.¡± A pause. ¡°You promised to go drinking with your friend. He believes that you are trying to ¡®get out of it¡¯ again, and is a touch...irate. I assured him your distress was sincere, but¡­¡± ¡°Oh, ruined gods.¡± I dragged my fingers down my face, resisting the urge to claw into the flesh in my frustration. Drinking on this stomach was the worst possible thing I could imagine. But Ju Jing was right. I had promised. One of the very few, maybe the only, promise I¡¯d made to Zhuzhu or any other disciple. It was a minor promise, but still¡ªhonor was an ideal I couldn¡¯t ignore. If I broke the small promises, then no one would trust me when I made the big ones. And since there were probably going to be promises that I absolutely had to break in my path to vengeance, I needed people to trust me as long as I could manage. Ju Jing still stood, quiet and nonjudgmental. Or, if he was judging, he was very good at keeping it off of his face. ¡°Would you like me to make an excuse for you?¡± Yes, please. Tell them I died. But I said, ¡°No, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m really not that¡ªit¡¯ll be fine. Maybe the alcohol will even settle my stomach.¡± Now his expression showed skepticism, and I laughed weakly. ¡°I can dream, right?¡± ¡°You can.¡± His foot tapped on the stones of the ground, three rapid little motions, before he added, ¡°Do you think I might be welcome to come along?¡± ¡°Uh...Zhuzhu will be ecstatic. He¡¯s been trying¡ªbut why? You¡¯ve said no just as many times as I have.¡± I stood up straight, told my stomach to behave. ¡°I can take care of myself, Ju Jing.¡± ¡°You can.¡± The most unsettling thing about talking with Ju Jing was how he never bothered to turn his face towards who he was speaking to. If anything, he was more interested in keeping his ear turned closer, to hear every word. So his face was mostly in profile, illuminated only by mist-shrouded lamps. ¡°It may surprise you to learn that I don¡¯t have many people within our cohort who enjoy spending time with me, and who I enjoy spending time with, in turn.¡± ¡°Zhuzhu desperately wants to make friends with you,¡± I pointed out. Ju Jing¡¯s smile tilted on his face, became sharp. It reminded me all too much of when I¡¯d seen him wield his art. His voice was dry as he replied, ¡°Perhaps that day will come. But what I was getting at, Zhou Hou, is that while an invitation to drink with Zhuzhu is flattering, an invitation to drink with you is one I¡¯m more likely to accept.¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°What, really?¡± Yes, he¡¯d talked of friends, false and otherwise, and I¡¯d used the word myself. But Ju Jing just didn¡¯t seem attached to anything. Certainly not to me. ¡°Yes, really.¡± It was patient, but the light caught his mouth just right to let me see him press his lips together. ¡°But if that¡¯s not something you¡¯d enjoy, then I¡¯m just as happy to sit out.¡± ¡°No, not at all. It¡¯d be¡ªactually, that sounds fine. I enjoy your company. I just don¡¯t like drinking,¡± I admitted. ¡°I find it is easier to make an early excuse when you are not the only one leaving. In the troupe, when nobles and merchants hosted us for entertainments, we would arrange signals to allow ourselves to slip out in twos and threes when we needed to.¡± His tone was so fond, even regretful, that I had to wonder why he had left them. By his own admission, they were his family, and yet he¡¯d taken up the path of cultivation. Even if he succeeded, he would eventually lose them to age and the distance that cultivators inevitably put between themselves and mere mortals. I didn¡¯t ask. It wasn¡¯t the time or the place, and it would only invite questions in return. I offered what I could, instead. A careful bow, making sure to start talking when I was bent, so that he would pick up the change in height. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come drinking with us, Ju Jing? You¡¯d be welcome company for me and I know Zhuzhu won¡¯t mind.¡± His head tilted, following the sound of my voice. His smile was restrained but it lost its edge. ¡°I accept the kind invitation. Are you ready to return?¡± I poked gingerly at my stomach. It gurgled sullenly. ¡°...as ready as I¡¯m ever going to be.¡± Which was how I showed up the next morning at weapons practice not just feverish and aching from qi sickness, but also so hungover that every single drop of sunlight that made it through the sect¡¯s perpetual fog had turned into a dagger aimed without mercy at my eyes. I was also late; by the time I made my way carefully into the courtyard, both Jian and Kai were already there. My vision was a little blurred, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice Kai¡¯s little hiss of irritation. He reached into his robes and tossed something at Jian. The Inner Disciple caught it with barely a movement of his hand and whatever it was disappeared into his robes. He looked pleased with himself, but his voice was cool as he said, ¡°We were about to start without you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surprised you came at all,¡± Kai muttered. It was rough with scorn. ¡°I understand you were busy last night.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t miss practice.¡± It was what I had told myself even as every muscle in my body screamed in protest at my demand to wake up and start moving. I¡¯d chanted it with every step, even as those steps jostled my aching head and intensified the headache. Despite several rinsings, my mouth remained sour from the booze. I hadn¡¯t intended to drink as much as I did. But it turned out that cultivators¡¯ wine, even the quality that they would share with the lowliest of their members, was both much better and much more potent than anything I¡¯d been used to drinking with my family back at our village. And the warmth that the alcohol had spread through me had made it easier to relax. To laugh with Zhuzhu, Ju Jing, and several other disciples. I even remember finding my own illness pretty funny after a few cups. Nothing had hurt and everyone had been much more clever than I¡¯d previously thought them to be. Except Ju Jing, who always seemed frighteningly sharp. It had been a surprisingly good evening. And now I was paying the price. But I wouldn¡¯t let it damage my cultivation. ¡°I¡¯m here, and ready to train.¡± As cheerful as ever, Jian said, ¡°Excellent. I think we¡¯re ready to start you on some of the more complex arts.¡± He watched my face change. His smile just widened. Sweetly, he added, ¡°Something more vigorous, to match your increased skill.¡± Jian was a monster. It was the worst practice I¡¯d suffered through, and that included the time when I was almost sure Kai was going to murder me. Neither of them eased up an inch on my pain-riddled body. Kai, in particular, seemed to take great joy in aiming for my head and my stomach, with every contact setting off a constellation of pain and/or nausea. I hadn¡¯t cried since I buried my family, but by the time Jian took his leave of us, I was the closest I¡¯d come since. As Jian¡¯s footsteps retreated, I went from a bow to kneeling on the cobbles, then from kneeling to keeling over, folding down so that my forehead (hot, sticky, stinking of wine-sweat) came to rest on the stone. I didn¡¯t even care that it was dirty. It was cool. I dimly remembered stories of cultivators who focused on arts of earth, who could command the earth to just reach out and pull them down into a dark, silent cocoon. Was this how one began such a path? Did understanding of the Dao of Earth begin with just wanting it to swallow you and hide your ridiculous self away from the world? It took the skitter of a wayward pebble to recognize that Kai was still there. Off to my left, if the pebble was a good indication. Not moving. I could picture him in my head, bald and black eyed, staring down at me. Even in my current condition it was enough to make me shiver and begin to stir, to try and sit up. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± His voice was cool. ¡°My first teachers said that to regularly deceive others or yourself would cripple your cultivation. If they¡¯re right, you¡¯ve set yourself back years with the times you¡¯ve used that phrase this morning alone.¡± I froze. Had Kai made a joke? Sure, it was at my expense, but in months, it was the first time I¡¯d heard anything from the demon-blooded disciple except grudging politeness (to the Inner Disciples) and disdain or irritation (to everyone else). I forced myself back to a sitting posture to look at him and made my lips turn upwards. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it counts as deception if no one believes it.¡± Tch. I suppose I should have expected the click of tongue against teeth and the twist of his mouth. His expression was difficult to read, as it often was unless he was angry about something. Acerbic, he replied, ¡°If no one believes it, then it¡¯s a waste of breath you could be using to practice.¡± My knees had remembered that they were being pressed against stone, supporting the whole of my weight, and this was not something they found comfortable. ¡°Thanks for the observation,¡± I muttered, and with a groan, I rose to my feet. Or tried to. Halfway up, my left leg, overstressed by practice and all the idiotic things I¡¯d done to my body in the last couple of days, gave out. I toppled over with nothing but a sound that even I would categorize as pathetic. Kai¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed my arm, keeping me from crashing back to the stone. His grip was not gentle; if not for the way his stance hadn¡¯t shifted at all, I¡¯d almost have read it as an attack. I scrambled to get my traitor foot back under me, and stood on my own two feet. He let go immediately. We stared at each other, and I had the distinct impression that he was as wary as I was, despite having far less reason to be. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said. He looked away. ¡°It gets wearying to see you topple to the ground so often. Even if you always get up again. Be better. Don¡¯t fall down in the first place.¡± I laughed. ¡°Considering that it¡¯s you who puts me on the ground most of those times? If you¡¯re getting bored, you could go easier on me.¡± Flatly, he said, ¡°No.¡± He turned and started walking away. ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t want me to. It¡¯s the only interesting thing about you, Zhou Hou.¡± I opened my mouth. I closed it. I watched him until he disappeared. Only then was I able to mutter, ¡°Gee, thanks.¡± And despite my best effort to infuse it with scorn, I felt a brief, bright warmth kindle somewhere in my chest. I was getting...fond of people. And it seemed like, just maybe, some of them were getting fond of me in return. How inconvenient.