Jin Shu’s ear twitched as chaos erupted behind him. He thought he heard Yin’er shouting, but with Huai Jiahou staring him down, he couldn’t afford even a moment’s distra.

  Hundreds of calcutions raced through his mind. He o predict the man’s move—determine which dire he’d dodge, how far, and how many shots it would take to ralize him. Against someone in the Core Realm, he doubted a single shot would suffice.

  Releasing a steadying breath, Jin Shu squeezed the trigger.

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The muzzle fshed, sending three spiraling bullets screaming from the barrel in rapid succession. The spent gs hadn’t even cttered to the ground before he fired twice more.

  Bang! Bang!

  Huai Jiahou moved with eerie precision, his strange footwork allowing him to dodge the first three shots with ease, retreating farther than expected. The st two bullets hit, but they only tore through his voluminous robes, failing to so much as graze him.

  Jin Shu shifted his stance, readying his aim for another volley. But before he could fire, Huai Jiahou was suddenly a half-step away. Jin Shu’s instincts kicked in, and he backpedaled furiously—he couldn’t let the man close the distance.

  A palm strike crashed down, missing him by a hair’s breadth. The resulting shockwave exploded the floorboards with a thunderous roar, rivaling the sound of guhat wasn’t even a direct hit; it was just the qi and wind pressure.

  If that strike had nded… Jin Shu didn’t doubt he’d be obliterated on the spot.

  His breath quied as he kept retreating, barely evading the relentless assault. A fleeting gnce over his shoulder showed the crowd finally scattering, betedly but thankfully clearing the battlefield. Yet, in the midst of the chaos, Biyu, Sun Li, and Yin’er remained locked in bat with the other assaints.

  There was no time to process their situation. Jin Shu focused on dodging Huai Jiahou’s strikes, eae ing closer tha. By the sed attack, he realized the truth: Huai Jiahou was toying with him. The man was deliberately telegraphing his moves, letting Jin Shu slip away at the st moment.

  Jin Shu’s jaw tightened. If he didn’t act while Huai Jiahou was still cocky, he wouldn’t get another ce.

  Huai Jiahou raised his hands, a smug grin spreading across his face. “Young man, why don’t we call it a day, hm?” His hands lowered slowly, the fiden his demeanor unshaken. “You and I both know what happens if I get serious.”

  Jin Shu halted, his pistol still leveled at the man. His breathing was steady despite the adrenaline c through him. “Fine. I could use the breather. So, what do you have to say?”

  Huai Jiahou’s grin widened. “You’re sharp. Jin Shu, the Young Master of the Jin family, and Princess Sun Mei’er’s son.” His gaze shifted to the pistol in Jin Shu’s hands, eyes narrowing slightly. “That on must be one of your family’s iions?”

  Jin Shu shrugged nontly. “Something like that.”

  Huai Jiahou chuckled, his tourning spiratorial. “With ons like those, outfitting our fa—aually our army—would be trivial. The Emperor’s throne would fall before us, and the western region would be ours.” He extended a hand, his voice smooth aing. “Wouldn’t you like to be a part of that? A legacy of quest?”

  “quest?” Jin Shu scoffed, waving him off. “Nah. Been there, dohat. Not ied.”

  Huai Jiahou’s smile faltered, his expression darkening. “You should resider. If you value your life.”

  Jin Shu smirked, pulling his left hand away from his pistol grip. In an instant, a pink Glock materialized in his hand. He leveled both pistols at Huai Jiahou. “If I were you, I’d be more worried about myself.”

  Huai Jiahou flinched as the two barrels trained on him.

  Jin Shu exhaled and pulled both triggers.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  The hallway echoed with a cacophony of gunfire. Huai Jiahou darted left and right in a desperate bid to evade the storm of bullets. His once-pristine robes were shredded, streaks of blood spttering across the floor.

  Jin Shu fired relentlessly, pistols clig empty after the barrage. Without hesitation, he ejected the magazines, flipping the ons upside down as fresh mags materialized midair, droppily into the magwells. He smacked the bottom of the mags together and reehe slides in one smooth motion.

  The pistols rose again.

  Bang! Bang!

  Huai Jiahou stumbled as the bullets struck, his qi barrier abs one, but the sed puhrough, sinking into his chest and spraying blood.

  Bang! Bang!

  Two more shots nded, halting his advairely.

  Bang! Bang!

  Huai Jiahou dropped to his knees, his ragged breathing audible in the sudden quiet. He gred up at Jin Shu, hatred burning in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but blood gurgled from his lips instead, choking his words.

  His trembling hand reached forward, stopping just inches from Jin Shu. With a final, futile gasp, his body colpsed, crashing lifelessly to the shattered bloodstained floorboards.

  Jin Shu whipped around, sing the state of the other battlefield.

  Biyu stood with her palm extended, fiery qi dissipating from her strike. The man she’d hit flew backward, crashing into the floorboards with a siing thud. He didn’t rise again. Whether he was dead or simply immobilized, Jin Shu couldn’t tell.

  Nearby, Sun Li hovered protectively behind Biyu, her gaze wary.

  As for the other assaint... Jin Shu’s stomach ed at the sight. Yin’er sat on the man’s chest, her small paws drenched in blood. The once-silver fur c her body was sticky and red, a gruesome trast to her usual pristine appearance. She was lig blood from her cws, a macabre picture of innoce.

  Jin Shu could only hope the blood wasn’t hers.

  He approached cautiously. Yin’er spotted him first, her golden eyes lighting up. “Daddy!” she cried, leaping off the lifeless body with startlihusiasm.

  She shot toward him like a blood-soaked missile, aiming for his face.

  Jin Shu sidestepped her charge with practiced ease, catg her by the scruff of her neck mid-air.

  “Why. Are. You. Covered. In. Blood?” he asked, his voice calm, but the scary smile on his face didn’t reach his eyes.

  Yin’er, oblivious to his dark expression, wriggled in his grip with excitement. “Yin’er beat up the bad guy!” she excimed proudly, barieeth and cws as she spoke. Jin Shu winced, notig specks of flesh stuck between them.

  “Are you hurt?” His tone softened, a hint of worry creeping in.

  “Nope!” Yin’er beamed, puffing out her tiny chest. “Bad guy was too weak!” She looked utterly ical dangling from his grasp like a mischievous cub.

  “That’s good,” he said with a sigh of relief, before his tourern. “But no more fighting. You could get seriously hurt.”

  “Nuh-uh,” she argued, shaking her head vigorously. “Yin’er is super strong!”

  He sighed again, this time deeper. “Still, it’s dangerous. You o leave the fighting to me.”

  “But Daddy was fighting the bad guys, so Yin’er wao help!” she said, pouting.

  Bam!

  The sudden sound drew Jin Shu’s attention.

  His head soward Biyu, who stood over the sed attacker. Her palm hovered over his now-crushed skull, blood poolih it. Jin Shu frowhat wasn’t like her. What could’ve made her do that?

  As she turned around, he saw the answer—or part of it. Her veil had been sliced and now hung loosely at the side, revealing a long, bleeding wound on her cheek.

  Jin Shu’s frown deepened. What had happened while he was occupied?

  Jin Shu approached the other two, Yiill dangling by the scruff of her ne his grip. As he passed the mangled body of the man she had apparently killed, his eyes lingered on the vicious d fang marks marring what little remained of intact flesh.

  He gnced down at the blood-soaked cub swinging ily in his hand, calmly lig her paws as if nothing had happened.

  o self. Never piss Yin’er off.

  He made a mental note. No, better yet, he’d leave that to Nano, the mini-superputer led in his dantian.

  “This wasn’t even her pissed off,” Nano replied ftly, the voice reverberating in his mind.

  Jin Shu paused mid-step, a shiver creeping down his spine. You’re right. Doubly make sure I never piss her off.

  Sun Li finally noticed his approach. Her face brightened, and she rushed toward him.

  “Shu-gege!” she shouted, her voice tinged with relief.

  She attempted to throw her arms around him, but Jin Shu sidestepped her with the same ease he had Yin’er moments earlier.

  Her momentum carried her forward, and she tripped, headed face-first for the bloodied floorboards.

  With a swift motion, Jin Shu reached out and caught her by the colr, hauling her back upright.

  Now, with Yin’er dangling from one hand and Sun Li dangling from the other, Jin Shu looked like a parent carrying two misbehaving kittens. At least, that’s what it would look like to any outsider.

  He didn’t pause, tinuing forward until he stood before Biyu.

  “Are you okay?” Jin Shu asked, his voice calm, though his gaze lingered on the bleeding wound along her cheek. His chest tightened as he watched a drop of blood trail down her , addi another spsh of red to the already stained floorboards.

  “Mm, I’m fihis little wound is nothing,” Biyu replied nontly, dabbing at it with her sleeve.

  “If you say so.” Her reassurance didn’t ease the knot in his chest, but at least she seemed otherwise unharmed. Trying to shift focus, he asked, “What was that st blow about?”

  Her expression turned cold. “I couldn’t leave his brain intact. Demonic cultivators have methods to search the memories of the dead—and he saw my face.”

  “Demonic cultivators?” Jin Shu frowned, gesturing toward the two lifeless bodies on the ground. “You’re saying they were?”

  “Yes. Look here.” She crouched beside one of the corpses, pointing to the dagger clutched in its stiffening hand. “Do you see this symbol? That’s the Sign of the Demon. It marks disciples of the Demonic Cult.”

  Jin Shu leaned in to get a closer look. The symbol etched into the bde was ulingly familiar, resembling the imagery of devils and demons from Westerh's mythology. A twisted faeered from the hilt, with an upside-down cross etched into its forehead.

  “That’s...charming,” Jin Shu muttered.

  Biyu stood, brushing off her robes as though she hadn’t just crushed a man’s skull. “It’s not unon. The Demonic Cult is being bolder these days.”

  Jin Shu’s jaw tightened as unbidden thoughts of his mother and her desperate battle against the Demonic Cultivators surged through his mind.

  He needed answers. Soon. Otherwise, the gnawing ahreatening to e him might drive him mad.