“Is this the token you talked about?” Wei Zhiruo first picked up the hardened shell-like round object, giving off a fluorescent sheen into the dark. Visible against her bloodied hands, its green light gave a very eerie feel at first sight, but she had touched and confirmed that it was just a piece of broken tortoiseshell and one that had a few mysterious lines embossed over its surface. She stumbled across it as she was clearing her blade against the head of the fallen bear; it looked like the bear had been wearing it around his neck like a collar —strange, she thought. Stranger still was the jade-like feel to that shell, she felt on the tip of her fingers, like she was touching water and stone, or a stone with running water over it.

  When she heard a few steps coming closer to her she didn’t fall back but stood up to meet Jun Mingdao’s curious brown eyes, his face immediately lit when he found what she was holding, “Oh! Yes, indeed. This is what those elders showed us…can I see it?”

  “Of course. Here.”

  Wei Zhiruo then watched him examine the object from all sides and even raise it against the stray sunlight of mid-noon. She was a little surprised to notice that the token immediately changed its color upon being touched with light, becoming a slightly emerald-ish shell with a word ‘Qualified’ written over it.

  Only now did she finally confirm that it wasn’t her illusion, she was really gaining better control of her body’s previous abilities —at least, after looking at those words she didn't have to waste time like before, second-guessing their meaning, but just at first glance she knew what that word meant. This was a great improvement, indeed. If she harnessed all her latent memories...maybe there will be more clues about the event that had led to that woman's death?

  Wei Zhiruo stopped herself from thinking too much, and when she heard steps coming closer again, climbing and crunching over those dried leaves and broken soil, she stood up straighter, removing stray wrinkles on her rag of a cloth.

  “Did you find something? You did? Where?” Tan Juxian joined them beaming with his standard smile, which then became sweeter as he took in the tokens in his hands. "What Is this material? It feels so great when touched. Do you think they'll let us keep these?"

  Song Hua came from behind, while holding a thick pole with a sharpened end on one side for support. “Is there only one?”

  “Younger sister Wei found it. Just this one.” Jun Mingdao replied.

  “It was the only thing that fell. I found it on that bear’s body.” Wei Zhiruo explained to them pointing towards the towering bear carcass.

  Since they were standing underneath a cavern which might be around the fold in the mountain’s belly, she started walking without further delay. Although this small cavern did give them enough space to stand up after crawling into the tunnel-like pass from the opposite end, it did push them to come closer together to hear one another or they’d need to shout. She chose to walk out first and then slowed down to fall in the middle of the group. She watched them walking on, treading softly and carefully over the following cliffside path.

  Wind blew fiercely. Because none of them had any protective clothes, walking had definitely become a challenging task. Someone suggested to hold hands and walk, so they did and eventually kept themselves safe from falling down and breaking into pieces down the cliff.

  She had to shut her eyes when facing gusts of fierce wind, her hair though billowed crazily. When she looked downwards, her eyes were met with a deep gorge opening up full of green foliage, so thick and dark and covered in cloud that one could just imagine the fate they’d meet if someone stumbled a little wrongly on this path.

  “We still need four of these. It's good that we had a good start here, now we do know how to come about them. It's a fine clue.” Tan Juxian shouted on top of his lungs down the line.

  "Yes, we do." Jun Mingdao yelled back. He seemed to be enjoying this shouting session, as he supported a huge grin on his round face.

  "We can try examining a few caves for traces of wildlife. What do you all say? I think there is a bear cave just around the corner somewhere here.” Wei Zhiruo's voice reached them perfectly and many shook their heads.

  “No, I don’t think fighting these beasts is the only way.” Song Hua hurriedly shook his head and then clutched his sister's hand a lighter tighter. Poor child was shivering like a leaf, and if he wasn't constantly holding her, she would have definitely been blown away by the wind.

  Wei Zhiruo didn’t mind the rejection. She met that tiny girl’s obviously too muddled eyes and then used her knife to pierce through the mountain stone —she used the newly crafted support to propel herself, jumping up she clutched over a dry and dead tree's branch and took over the siblings in front to lead the group as they traversed along that narrow cliff-side path. She did it so effortlessly that it looked like she was dancing in the wind. She heard an excited exclamation from behind, likely by the tiny girl.

  They spent three hours walking tirelessly along that narrow pathway. Then they entered another much thicker part of the mountain forest, so solemn was its air that even the birds' cry sounded deafening, while creepers and bushes that reached up to their shins grew everywhere. Trees with boughs leaning down could be spotted here and there, while prickly Acacia was the most widely growing tree she observed. Wei Zhiruo looked down at the parchment she was holding in her hands which showed them they had found the exact entrance for the next trial – a structure like a gate, just that it stood attached to no building and with just bluestones paving a circular area around it, putting it in its center. It looked odd against the wild, with its flying red colors painted over overarching pillars and a huge sign that read "Lining Sect Portal".

  Teleportation portals like this would need a thing to activate them and she was afraid that those tokens they were collecting were the 'Portal Keys' to be allowed to go inside. Her worry soon proved to be right, as apart from herself no one could walk inside the bluestone enclosure.

  That was worrying and dusk was impending closer upon them, making it harder to proceed from here; it was dangerous to look out for a token in the night and not finding those tokens soon enough was also a risk. Maybe they all understood this in some way because she found in even the most oblivious Tan Juxian’s face a growing terseness and weariness. But they didn’t get enough time to think much — Wei Zhiruo picked up some approaching sound of steps and immediately signaled them to hide. The group scattered immediately, the smallest Song Meiling being picked up and dragged away by her brother.

  She herself took shelter and sneaked a peek to see who was coming.

  “…Master! Even if we keep walking like this, it will not dissolve our troubles! You’re clearly running away from your fear!” A short, slightly rough looking man voiced in his breathless voice, then Wei Zhiruo saw two people coming up —one was limply supporting another boy who looked red with blisters and wounds all over him. He didn't look much better than the battered Song Hua before he took those healing pills. “They'll catch up soon. We can’t walk, we cannot go in and fight! There will be more snatching and killing inside the Sect entrance there than we can imagine — just think about how your junior sister died!”

  “You- how dare you -!”

  “I will if you keep attempting suicide.” The rough looking man angrily hissed. “This is no way to die and if you’d wanted this death so badly, we could have died a better death in your house, Master Lin! All these years you sensibly tolerated everyone's injustice— since mistresses’ death and your father’s remarriage, which atrocity have you not faced with courage? I know you grieve now, but this is no small matter! You’ve responsibilities, duties given to you by mistress —did you forget even that?! Master, young master Lin, you cannot act so short sighted in front of me, particularly you who had been entrusted to me by his mother!”

  Wei Zhiruo didn’t follow the later grumbling conversation, as she had picked up another rush of wind. She hastily climbed up the short wild white ash, scaling its bark quickly. When she was at some height, she found a group of shadowy figures stealing closer this way!

  “Humans.” Marr came out.

  “Yes. They might be seeking that boy.” Wei Zhiruo replied.

  “What do you intend?”

  “Let’s watch first. Those children are hidden well.”

  “That means, you intend to help them kill if there is a need for it?”

  “I don’t see any fault in that.” Wei Zhiruo didn’t feel bad about this decision. In her principles, fighting and killing amounted to the gravest of sins. One could kill when affronted with life and death crises of one’s own, one could even kill to protect one’s group and naturally, that extended to the permission to kill during battles. There were other ceremonies to be observed, though, but here right now, she was faced with assassins and a crisis that might directly embroil a group that she’d taken under her wing. There were no morally gray fault lines in this which she might cross in her actions. “You’re aware I’ve taken them as my own here, on this journey. Any danger dawning over them is an attack on myself.”

  “I know and I find that quite improbable of you…what changed? What did you see in them?” Marr wasn’t deterred from asking the core of the question looming over, as he raised his voice. “You will not choose to do such a thankless thing as extending your hands to whichever person you deemed honest. Humans are so fickle, and did you forget those earlier examples — do I need to spell those dirty names loud for you to recall? Soole, Remis, Lilie…how many of them stood beside you in the end and didn’t choose to stick on the side of their race? I don’t want you to hurt again, Zhiruo, so think before you act.”

  “You see — just a few betrayals had turned you and I against our long-held principles.” Wei Zhiruo heard him patiently as she started jumping closer to the rushing force, her intention made obvious. “This is incumbent upon me to choose, A’Marr. If I don’t want to keep shrinking from myself, which I don’t want to do at all costs — I need to accept my failures and successes alike. We will live here, a new world is upon us –and you say, for how long do you want us to act shy of faith and jaded, and worried or maybe terrified of actual relationships? That won’t work. I chose to accept entering this unheard-of land and find this ‘sect’ because I really do want to see things. New things we never got the chance to experience and feel — and for this, I chose not to seek revenge for the death of this body — no - my new mother immediately. You understand me, I know. Don’t fear, Marr. It's just another hurdle and this act isn’t that deep.”

  To this Marr immediately refuted, “It’s picking side — it is taking life and killing! You took action against those wolves because they were a threat, you killed the bear to protect your friends. But now —that's a sentient being we seek to kill. A far greater sin in comparison. How cannot it be an act of faith? I am not against your ideas here, but don't think what you pick is a light matter, Zhiruo. I won’t urge you more, as I do know you don’t want to act cowardly. I know that very well. Let’s go. They are close.”

  The two of them didn’t make any sound as they stole closer to the rushing group of some eight, tightly clad figures in masks, with long blades visible in their hands. Wei Zhiruo picked the most reasonable time to act, the blade which had long since given away its sharpness was but like a piece of stone to her, the real force came from her internal strength and which she judged to be quite efficient when facing these men. There was a strange looming force swirling in their abdomens, but it wasn’t a threat to her, she sensed. Even then, she picked up their formations rear to begin.

  Once she started, she chased behind the group for a minute, lurking behind to see someone fall back from the rest of the group— when one did, she immediately tackled him over, clinging to his neck and suffocating the man before he could shout or yell or even protest. In a minute or two, she held an unconscious figure as her knife blade sank deeply into the flesh and fresh blood spurted out, dyeing her gruesomely. As she smelled the rust up close, she was careful and didn’t let the body fall to make a sound.

  “Hurry – he is here!”

  “Where -?”

  “Ahead, just ahead. This tracking spell indicates he is close to the portal. Act quickly-!”

  Wei Zhiruo heard their exchanges as she thinned the group of assassins. She didn’t take another action till she was quite sure there was no chance to be found out — even after that she only killed three men.

  She had more things planned. With this small crisis, she wanted to see what responses that small group of children would have. As for the actual target of these assassins? He wasn't one of her own, his life and death was hardly her concern.

  She chased behind slowly, while observing the group. One of the reason’s she hadn’t given too much thought before taking action against this group was their killing intent — a thick black aura clung to these men like shadows over their faces, making them bubbles of moving filth-filled gloom, so disgusting that she knew they’d taken —if not thousands —no less than a hundred lives each and that too for no good reasons. This alone wouldn’t justify her killing them though—she knew. But she was also aware of the dangers that might fall on her group if they fell into direct confrontation with these men. That too, however, didn’t demand killing. Marr had been right, this was just a matter of taking sides —she was still a murderer, albeit a murderer with clear, justifiable reasons.

  “Where's seventh and others? I don’t see them following.” Someone spoke. A man stopped and looked behind, as Wei Zhiruo hid deeper still.

  “Third? You, coming?"

  “Don’t worry about them. Act first. They might have veered off somewhere else. Fifth, you follow behind. We have a task at our hands. Focus!”

  “Yes! Coming right away.”

  Wei Zhiruo crept back to Jun Mingdao, who also hid on top of a tree and signaled him to come down.

  “What happened?”

  “A group is coming this way. That boy over there seems to be their target." Softly she laid out the situation to him. "If they decided to search, or that boy and his servant ran around even a little, we would face danger. What do you want to do?"

  Although Jun Mingdao looked flustered and afraid, he didn’t let his words betray his emotions, she saw. “Junior sister sensed it with her art? Will they discover us?”

  “It’s a probability.”

  “Can we run?”

  “They are flanking from the cliff side, and this gate — here, is the only direction we can tread, the rest are paths too steep to climb or jump up to or directly fall under a wild beast's territory. If we did proceed forward, that would mean abandoning…people. We could have escaped by portal but there aren't sufficient tokens for all."

  “I-is it that bad? What do you think we should do, now, meimei?” Jun Mingdao shook his head, his eyes widening in horror. She even saw cold sweat breaking out on his temples. He was alarmed, panicked.

  “I’ll warn the rest, first. There are five men, think about how we can escape from them while I'm gone." Wei Zhiruo didn’t spell out any method but relayed the same words to two other hidden places, watching keenly as they all responded to the danger.

  “Sister Wei, if you find it dangerous, please don’t stay for us. If you can escape, you should. Don’t feel bad.” The five-year-old girl grabbed her brother’s shirt tightly in her fist, but her words didn’t have any trace of cowardliness. Wei Zhiruo nodded, but she was watching the reaction of the boy with a sidelong glance. He looked grim but that was it.

  [They’re stable, indeed. courageous and forthright – good children. I will give you this – if anything, you’ve eyes.] Marr said inside her mind, approving her action for the first time.

  [What do you mean eyes? Didn’t I befriend those traitors as well?]

  […That is there too. Tsch!]

  [I, however, am more optimistic about these children than I was about them. You heard them talk —they all have a way of expression and none of them hold a childish heart, peculiarly. World weary, perhaps not, but they might have suffered a lot to get here. Their manners speak for them, like they’ve spent years forming their determined backs and those years were never kinder.]

  [Like wild wolf cubs?]

  [I meant their determination, yes. There they do remind of such.]

  Next, she was back to Jun Mingdao, who seemed to have collected himself a lot better. He, however, didn’t get the chance to tell her what he intended to do as the expected siege took place suddenly! The servant was shouting for help.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Help-! Somebody, help! There are intruders in the test, elders! Aagh!”

  Wei Zhiruo found that the companion of that rough looking man was being stepped over after being taken down in a few moves —the servant was hit behind his neck and lost consciousness. That man kept extending his hands forward, shouting.

  “Jin’er- no! Don’t kill him – he isn’t involved in this! If you want to kill me, kill! Please, please, spare him- he is innocent!”

  “Haaha! Is the young master begging us right now? What is in there for us to do such a thankless job? You’ve never heard of the saying – when you go about cutting the grass, don’t spare the roots or the spring might bring them back to life? Young master Lin – pardon us for not being so kind-hearted.”

  “I…I will pay! More than my stepmother, I will pay you double- no triple the amount she has!”

  “Oh- that sounds intriguing. Continue, now let us all hear what more our young master is willing to bring on the table for a slave.”

  “I own a secret…scroll, cough, cough!”

  Immediately, the air charged. The five men no longer looked like they were enjoying the teasing but began to really form a formation, surrounding the man in the middle. One of them who was quite close to shoving the knife down the unconscious servant boy, stood up and walked nearer to the formation as he said, “If that is what you have —then congratulations! Our Black Death Alliance will be quite happy to have you as a benefactor. Where is it, now, tell me!”

  “No-not till you swear on the heavens that you wouldn’t kill him!”

  “Young master Lin- has no one ever told you,” That man bent down closer to the teen being crushed, then he moved on to clutch his hair and make him look up pulling a bunch of his hair, and listening to his screams, “that in the Lands of Death, there is no trading. Only pillaging and stealing…and maybe killing for loot. We come from there, and you know what —the death which you think we will give you at this moment might become a real wish for you to seek…” he was talking softly like he was saying love-words. “Don’t make us villains, okay? Your stepmother just told us to bring your head, and nothing else. We can choose to keep you in captivity for as long as we want —or for as long as you are ready to spill the beans. Now, what do you think? Do you want death for yourself and your loyal servant or a nightmare?”

  Wei Zhiruo saw that the teenager's head was smashed against a stone underneath, so cruelly that it was leaning on the verge of mutilation. He could hardly reply as he spilled out real blood from his mouth, but the way he looked at that moment reminded Wei Zhiruo of light being sucked away in a blackhole. A candle extinguished; his eyes dulled to become like those of a puppet. She knew what future he had chosen for himself and his servant, and he would most likely die in some horrifically unimaginable ways. She frowned in distaste as if the view unfolding in front of her was like she’d swallowed a fly. Nauseating.

  “Meimei, I am going to go over there.”

  Wei Zhiruo looked up, a little startled, and found an incensed looking Jun Mingdao who looked equal parts scared and mortified. “Meimei, I -I don’t have any martial art, but my sword is good enough as you might’ve seen. If you don’t want to fight, don’t let me guilt you into doing that. But I cannot watch anymore.” He said, while he wrung his sword over his head, pulled it back and with a swish the weapon pierced through the bushes attracting everyone's attention towards them.

  “I am here.” Wei Zhiruo whispered, smiling pleasantly a little, as she watched that little man charges into the battle, watching his back towering against the sky as if he had suddenly become a tree from a tiny budding sprout. Courage, that charmed just like that. "I have your back."

  ***

  Lin Junjie didn't realize the changes quickly enough. He heard the clashing of swords, yells and curses in the back of his head, but his mind was too embroiled in his own desperation. He had never felt so desperate ever in life — not even when his own mother burned herself to death right in front of his eyes. He had cried, yelled and begged and then finally accepted the truth as his life — he had never felt so helpless. Now, he hardly had any good reasons to hope.

  He smelled the rotten leaf under his nose, his own blood, others blood lumped together, and now, the crushing feet that wouldn’t let him raise his head or look — “You- you can kill me or not kill me. But that scroll – don’t even think about getting it in this life!”

  He smelled that man’s warm breath as he leaned closer to his ears and whispered, “You don’t fear death yourself, young master Lin, but think about the hell you’ll put your companions through. I see you’ve hidden them well, children so young and tender —a twist of neck and they die like a chicken slayed, so imagine me doing this to them, all of them.”

  For a moment Lin Junjie couldn’t understand what that man meant when a sudden clashing of iron sounded.

  “Beasts! Heathens of Death, cease your attack this instant or I will call the authority! How dare you step in the sacred holy lands of Dajin?!” Lin Junjie watched on as a young boy, not even as tall as up to his shoulders, stood tall fighting against one of the assassins. He danced with his sword, each of whose strokes deftly closed up to the weaknesses and when he couldn't land a hit, he would fall back on his feet and run.

  For a second, he forgot to breathe, registering what had happened and then he started coughing in fits, blood gushing out his mouth as he muttered a few broken warnings – “Run! Run, quickly. This, cough, cough- is not a war you should fight!”

  “Oh, how brave.”

  "Hahaha! Sixth, watch your back or you might really be scratched by this kitten. Don't come to us crying then."

  "You jest-" Sixth dodged and replied, "how lowly of I do you think, to believe that? "

  Someone had even started clapping, others laughed loudly, so screeching that the birds flapped their wings somewhere startled with all this shouting. Yet the boy didn't show his fear of being surrounded by a pack of hungry hyenas.

  But then he didn’t get a chance to say another word as two more boys came out, each carrying something in their hands — verily they were all the candidates for the test he was taking, but these faces — he had never seen any of them. Lin Junjie desperately broke out into a struggle to free himself. He would die ashamed if he watched any of these children die because of his family feud —sin! This was such a —

  “Brother Song, charge!”

  The words hadn’t been said soon when arrows pierced the one man’s knee who stood over him, freeing Lin Junjie from his captivity. Lin Junjie didn’t stand blindly as he rolled and immediately took the knife thrown near him and faced his attacker directly! Several moves were exchanged in heated realization, but before he could do even a small bit of damage —he felt a burst of energy coming out from the hands of the masked man and was thrown directly like a doll crashing into a nearby tree. He heard his bone breaking before he felt the pain rushing in his mind, but he didn't dare to stop. Desperately, he crawled on all four towards another of his enemy clutching his feet so hard that the man had a hard time removing him, he bit him hard on his legs!

  “Aaagh! Let go this instant!”

  Lin Junjie was thrown away again. This time the damage multiplied, and he broke one of his arms. He took out a pill hidden in his sleeves with difficulty watching the chaos unfold — dust blew, stones were thrown, a tree branch snapped down, but the carnage of blood as a few men tore the limbs of those children to bits and pieces didn’t unfold.

  He saw someone calling out a name as a Black Assassin toppled down, dead. Silence stretched on both ends—felt like something enormous had shifted in their midst. He watched several men form a close formation with their backs against one another looking out for the source of danger. A boy lay fainted against a tree —likely thrown away, another was crouching down like a wolf ready to prance at notice, holding his longsword. While a boy with his arrows set on his bow looked hawkishly at everyone, his eyes filled with endless cruelty!

  “Clang!”

  Lin Junjie saw the man who had tormented him with his words defending his back from a girl. The moment she fell down on him suddenly, like an apparition she clung to his neck with one hand while another one was steadily attacking his face – when the man realized it, he immediately lurched downwards.

  Wood splinters flew like darts, while that assassin's pace, although too fast to be noticed, was easily matched by that girl as she passed him racing like an uneven lightning bolt, and the rest simply couldn’t be seen. Lin Junjie just felt the air becoming charged as two equally matched creatures faced against one another, their palms meeting flesh, legs dancing around in a fight of a pair of mantises. The girl skidded backwards and did a few summersaults, then landed down on top of another of the assassins who came to help, clutched his neck like a hawk snatching its prey and then—

  Lin Junjie saw a cloud of red mist bursting. Blood. Blood and more blood.

  "Aagrh—!"

  Lin Junjie sat up with difficulty, his ribs ached yet he couldn’t make himself miss the scene. Three men charged at two children, both of whom were hardly any older than his youngest brother — and that too in a fight…which wasn’t one sided crushing!

  The uneven ground propelled the two small heads, the boy with slightly better build used all his force to block any attack that might reach the smaller of the two, while the girl kept taking aims at whichever force came nearer, revolving like a top. In her hands that slightly red knife appeared to thrum and throb with heated surge of energy, charging and forcing all those who attacked her to face a similar kind of burning pain, as if what she held was a hot piece of molten lava!

  “Aaagr…third- third! Damn it!”

  Someone fell down, the two forces separated and glared. The mask of the remaining three had suffered several cuts, forcing them to unravel their faces completely.

  One glowered fiercely, while others seemed not too happy as well, but the formation seemed to be back in place —

  “You, m’lady might come from the Seas and Forests. Accept our apology that we seem to have trespassed your dominion. We, from the Black Death, would like to ask why else you attacked us. It doesn’t seem likely that your intention belies saving a mere stranger here,’ he pointedly turned towards Lin Junjie and continued with a scowling, yet a slightly daunted expression, “did we offend you in something —and if we did, we request to be forgiven. This deal is a commercial task we — the Black Death seek to advance. We have received payment for this — it's a fully legitimate task, my ladyship.”

  He was addressing the girl, but she didn’t seem to take his words in at all, as he saw her mumble a few words to the boy, who immediately stood in front of her again. “We don’t accept your apology —our sister demands you to forfeit this task — forfeit your path, and repent! If you take this oath, we will let you go.”

  In a roaring voice of a lion, the child pointed his sword and declared — to him, Lin Junjie, the scene unfolding was nothing less than a bizarre dream as he couldn’t grasp how such a small child could achieve this — no, that line of thinking was inherently bounded to the mortal world's common sense. Lin Junjie remembered where he stood and became seriously engrossed in observing the girl, especially her blue eyes which seemed to be a sign that he was on the right track! How could a mere mortal behave like this -? This-this seemed to be a noble daughter of those…elders!

  As if this line of thought hadn’t just crossed his mind alone but had finally dawned over the rest of the surviving three, the air became grave, with many of them exchanging silent glances and maybe, signs. “And why pray – why does my lady demand such a thing from us? We assure you; we're an especially invited group and have permission to walk over this land. How dare we make mischief under the nose of immortals? We apologize if this incident has caused her ladyship's displeasure, we will forfeit our task if she so demands. But we cannot make…an oath that might kill us.”

  “Do that —or die here. Your choice.” Lin Junjie heard that girl speak for the first time. He saw how the several faces immediately became ugly with displeasure, but none of them even dared to take out a weapon. This- this change immediately confirmed his doubts to him – this child had no common origin.

  “What if we can be of service to you?”

  The girl didn’t reply but looked back at the boy holding a bow in one of his hands. As if he had observed a signal, he immediately came in front and stood tall amongst the muscular men three times his own size with none of the daunting visible on his spirit —

  "What services can we require of those who dwell in sewers of Death." He spoke blithely, but slightly measured tone. "Black Death Alliance was named amongst those who can never step in Dajin or they face prosecution, death of defying Royal Order and finally, you say you have permission but that is clearly just your word —don't tell me you have an Imperial Edict and if you don't, we take that as a crime of lying to us! As for help, from heathens of those dirty lands we require no help. So, do as our sister commands or die-its either of these choices we give thee!"

  Lin Junjie mockingly thought, now he had really seen the world and was ashamed to appear so badly in front of them. Now, though, he took a deep sigh of relief knowing well that the fight had started and simmered down in just a few exchanges and then his eyes fell upon two dead figures.

  He added in his mind, 'Of course the ability is paramount.'

  Looking down at his state and them, he knew how far behind he was in terms of strength or even mental fortitude! Some people didn’t even follow the natural rules of age, some children can fully take down grown-up individuals and he — he cannot even save his own companion!

  “Shame, Lin Junjie, be ashamed!” He muttered under his breath.

  ***

  Wei Zhiruo left the negotiation to Song Hua completely — as now, there was no danger, she fell back into the shadows acting like a bystander. She was still inviting many inquisitive glances from all sides, but she hardly took any note of them; instead, she bent down and started brushing the blood-stained blade over the green grass, several times she rubbed it from its hilt to its tip, till it once again regained somewhat of its previous silver appearance. This blade – she liked it. She decided that after finding a better accommodation, she will look out for tools to forge this knife into a fine weapon.

  “You mean, you will act as our bodyguards in the next friction? How dare you — do we look like we need filthy assassins to do our biddings?”

  Wei Zhiruo raised an eyebrow appreciatively; now, she was almost sure this group of young men —if they didn’t break up due to internal friction —will become a world renown force. They had that grit, she thought, and that difference in temperament to better accommodate one another. Jun Mingdao had a real talent to grasp the pace of battle. Tan Juxian, although slightly weaker than Mingdao, was fast and flexible. While Song Hua had that calm, thought provoking grasp over details.

  Wei Zhiruo was most impressed by Jun Mingdao. That boy didn't flinch even once when such towering grown up men kept flinging blades his way and many a times, he created perfect caveats for her to take an aim while still successfully blocking any inadvertent attack coming her way — “He’s good and can be taught. Better still is his physical strength and stamina. Imagine him growing up into a towering beast. What an impactful sight it would be!”

  [Worthy enough. You intend to meddle in their lives? Do you think they’ll accept you?]

  “Not fully right away — but as a worthy leader? I think I might have a chance. But this Song Hua, I think, before I came in their path he was leading them. The amount of understanding that they share, maybe that wolf attack wasn’t even the first time they had faced death and escaped. He, however, doesn’t look like someone who will direct others as he pleases, he is too — what might you call that spirit...yes — the spirit to stand alone? He has that feeling clinging to him to his bones. And, I think despite my age, he has already seen my worth. He won’t pose a threat.”

  [What are you even doing, imagining fake scenarios and creating fake forces?] Wei Zhiruo smiled covertly, as she felt him roll his eyes, but didn’t tell him her reasons. It was a game, she thought, a game she had played so much and so frequently that it had become a second nature to approach others like thus.

  All this time, the two forces had argued several times, and she saw several pairs of eyes falling on her face from time to time. She still didn’t show her intention to intervene, which fortified Song Hua’s status in other's eyes and finally, after they had tentatively examined one another fully — the boss on their side, the man who had done most of the talking and whose voice now grated on her nerves, said -

  “I understand. You will not accept these small things, but what about these?” He showed the two boys a bunch of dangling tokens they had desperately sought around the mountain for a whole day and night and were now losing their will to seek.

  [That’s a good move. He will live, this filth-ball. Tsch, I hate his smell — it smells too much of…death and rot.]

  Wei Zhiruo felt the shift. This really shifted the weight from one side to another, but this time she chose to intervene before anyone spoke, “You have killed, I believe. Killed many souls, hundreds of them quite innocent. I see them clinging to you.”

  Her statement immediately alerted everyone, as they fell silent. Some even showed renewed disgust for the assassins.

  Wei Zhiruo watched the three men change the color of their faces. “I won’t accept anything with traces of innocent blood —speak, where you found them. Speak the truth, as I have ways to find out what isn't.”

  Wei Zhiruo deliberately put on a mysterious persona, because in this chaotic moment the most judicious way out was to be quick and decisive, not letting anyone have enough time to understand anything —illusion and confusion, these were some tools she really liked to use, and by now quite adept at both.

  “I-I found this nearby,” Another assassin who had hardly spoken a word spoke. His voice wasn’t as ingratiating as his boss’s, but he didn’t use any polite language to address her, but he did support a slightly alarmed look in his eyes. “A fight broke out near a canyon on the way here, and a group of some twelve candidates died. We found these while…searching for valuables.”

  Wei Zhiruo met Song Hua’s questioning glance and nodded finally.

  “You can go without the oath but remember, the next time we see you here in Dajin – not just you, anyone of your kind, remember that we will not let your Black Death go! Now leave!” Song Hua snatched the tokens from the leader and spoke tersely.

  The matter was done quickly, and those men disappeared as soon as they could. What was left behind in the aftermath was a few sprawling dead bodies which she doubted would be recovered by anyone.

  She watched Ling’er running out of somewhere with a bottle in her hands. She first fed a pill to the unconscious Tan Juxian who had suffered a direct blow in the fight, then she slowly walked to the two other much taller boys —Wei Zhiruo observed the still conscious one of them, determined his age to be somewhat around eighteen or early twenties. Either way, his tall build in front of all of them was a comical sight, particularly when he couldn’t even take a single blow without breaking down…definitely a very spoiled nobleman. This was a place for selection for martial artists, right? What good would he do with his white face — oh, he might have those ‘spiritual roots’ and definitely good enough to override his weak constitution.

  [Nevertheless, a waste.] Marr spoke harshly.

  Wei Zhiruo took back her examining glance, and interrupted the conversation between Song Hua to which she had hardly heeded, “Should we proceed today?”

  “We can,” Jun Mingdao thoughtfully replied. his small face stretched into a frown. “We can go back tomorrow at dusk but doing that is likely risking others finding us here. We can hide, but that’s hardly a good solution too — we need food and water.”

  “Food, water and treatment – Song Hua needs care as we all do too in some measure.” Tan Juxian butted in, coming up to them while scratching his hair looking a little bewildered.

  “I…agree,’ Song Hua said, “we can camp, understand the situation over that side better. Suddenly intruding in a big fight tomorrow is not good.”

  “Brother…that big brother over there wants to talk to you.”

  Song Meiling came running back, Wei Zhiruo saw, with her hands now holding an emptied pill container.

  “It's decided then. After three hours of break, we will enter this door —the elders said this will lead us to the real sect land; we might have to acquaint ourselves with the topography too." Jun Mingdao summed up the decision.

  She saw Song Hua, walking away from their small group and making his way to the nobleman and his now awake servant — she looked down at the token’s they had secured instead.

  A bunch of them formed a cluster of seven, plenty for them to secure a place even if they fought and lost in tomorrow's scuffle in the evening. If they find a method to safeguard five of these, there will be no other trouble.

  "You can come out before we go through the portal. We might be observed from here, I fear."

  [Uhum...I know.]