~~~

“Argh! Damnation!”

Young Jiang yells in frustration after hitting the ground for the twelfth time in half that many minutes. He tries to pat away the dirt from his robes, but it is useless. They are already more brown than blue. Having grown up among garbage and corpses, such a silly thing should not bother him. However, the wonders of daily baths and clean clothes have made him quite attached to cleanliness.

“This is impossible,” Young Jiang grumbles under his breath.

It does not go unnoticed.

“Really? I believe I just showed you it is entirely possible.”

Young Jiang glares at his master. The woman sits on a large rock with a book on her lap. How can she read it when the mask she wears has no eyeholes is anyone’s guess.

“You gave me a long explanation I barely understood, then showed me the technique once!” Young Jiang complains.

“Ah, but I did show it to you,” his master points out, raising a finger to underscore her point. The giant vulture next to her laughs at him as much as any bird can laugh at anyone. Young Jiang glares at it, thinking, not for the first time, the damn bird would be more useful as their lunch.

“What’s even the point of this?” Young Jiang asks. “I can already make myself faster with Qi! A movement technique is not what I want to learn from you!”

“If I am to be your master, you must learn what I teach you,” the masked woman says. She closes her book and stands up. Young Jiang immediately takes several steps back, afraid he might have pushed too far. Even the stupid bird inches away from his master. “Tell me, foolish disciple of mine, what do you think is the most important thing for you to learn?”

It is obviously a trick question.

Young Jiang knows he’s supposed to answer the way she wants. Any other answer would be found faulty. However, being untrue to himself is not something that suits him.

“Healing,” he replies without hesitation.

He still remembers how his master reshaped his body in the blink of an eye the day they met. That single moment reshaped his entire life and expectations. That is what he wishes to learn above all. It is why he has followed her this far despite the several dangers she has thrown him into.

For his honesty, his master throws her book at him.

It bounces off his head, hits the vulture before it can laugh at him, and finally bounces back to his master’s palm.

“Survival,” she says while Young Jiang rubs his head in pain. “The most important thing for you to learn is survival. I have no need for a disciple who cannot outlive me.”

“You are teaching me to run away?!”

“Naturally,” his master replies with a shrug of her shoulders. “You are weak. Incredibly and pathetically so. Do you expect me to guard you my whole life? Hide you between the folds of my robes? That’s foolish. If you learn to run away, you can live another day. If you live another day, you can grow stronger. If you grow stronger, one day you might not be weak. Thus, survival must always be your priority.”

Young Jiang wants to object, but there is no error in his master’s arguments, even if they are all insulting in some way.

“If all I need to do is learn how to survive, isn’t there any other easier movement technique I could be learning instead?”

His master scoffs. “If you cared about easier, you would not be learning from me. There is no better movement technique for you to learn. If anything, you should be thanking me for the opportunity to learn this technique. It was used by a great hero, you know?”

Old Jiang stares at her flatly.

“It has Thief in the name,” he points out.

“Heroes are often fond of taking things, often in daring ways,” his master says, before shaking her head and sighing. “Really, it is such a pity he is dead. The Roaming Thief was such a dashing rogue.”

“The technique didn’t even keep him alive?!”

~~~

Imperial Cloud City teems with noise. The people toast in Chen Guo’s name. They speak of Xiao Shuang’s terrifying ice. They tell each other about Lu Mei’s golden flames and Xiao Fang’s dominating performance.

And, of course, they speak of the Young Dragon.

Some disapprove of his handling of a weaker opponent. Others know this sort of pageantry is just another part of the tournament. It is the fault of the Emperor’s opponent for being too weak. If anything, the disciple of the Black Dusk should be thankful he left the ring without serious injuries. Emperor Qing Jin could have easily killed him if he wanted to.

At least, that is how most people are talking about the fight. It is a different story among the upper echelons of the city.

Hushed whispers. Hurried conversations. Secrets meetings in dark rooms. It is not just happening in the Four Great Sects. Masters with centuries of experience are suddenly on edge. Different words and different tones are used, but without a doubt, they are all speaking about the same thing.

This does not go unnoticed by the young contestants.

“Your lover just did something. I’m not sure what it is, but this is definitely his fault.”

Lu Mei looks at Bei Hong and fights the urge to sigh. While some would have waited until they were alone to have this conversation, her childhood friend just blurted it out in the middle of the common room in the Eternal Flame Clan’s estate for everyone to hear.

The others aren’t even pretending not to be listening in!

“So?” She asks, sounding perfectly bored. “What is it to you?”

Bei Hong’s grin shows off all his teeth.

“I wanted to thank him, obviously,” he says. “He said something good was going to happen, but I was beginning to doubt. I should have known better.”

Lu Mei refrains from shaking her head. Same predictable, overly brutish, ultimately reliable Bei Hong. Others would have no end of questions and concerns. He merely wants to express his approval in the loudest way possible, even if it means making trouble for her.

No, knowing him, that’s just another incentive.

“Well, he’s not here,” Lu Mei says.

“Oh, I know. I just wanted to say it,” Bei Hong says, already on his way out of the room, probably to get some extra training before tomorrow. Some would approve, saying every second counts. Others would instead talk of the importance of resting. Lu Mei does not care either way. Meditating would be meaningless in her current state.

“Enough of this!” Feng Zhi says, standing up and marching over to the long couch where Lu Mei rests. “Where is he?!”

Oh, he just makes this too easy.

Lu Mei decides to do him a favor and does not insult his intelligence by asking Feng Zhi who he is talking about, even if Feng Zhi keeps leaving himself open for such things. It’s almost a crime. Her cousin should really focus on sharpening his tongue.

“Do you really believe I would know such a thing?” she asks Feng Zhi, batting her eyelashes innocently.

“Yes,” Feng Zhi replies in a voice as dry as the desert.

“Oh, dearest cousin, why must you distrust your own family?” Lu Mei asks, turning her head away from him in fake despair.

“Because I know my family, and you fit in far too well,” he replies.

Lu Mei gives him a few points for that one, but she does not show him anything other than a disarming smile.

“I love you too, cousin.”

Feng Zhi’s whole body tenses up. His hands clench and unclench before he takes a deep breath and walks away, fully convinced that he is not going to get anything out of Lu Mei. The others soon return to their own matters, lacking either the confidence or the interest to try to interrogate Lu Mei.

Only when everyone else has looked away does Lu Mei allow her smile to fade.

Unfortunately, she did not lie to her cousin. She truly has little idea of where her Jin is. The last conversation she had with him is still fresh in her mind.

“As amusing as it was to see you toy with that fool, it is not like you to indulge in such vices.”

“It needed to be done.”

“Oh?”

“I wish I had more time to explain, but you’ll understand soon enough. You have always been brilliant. However, I need to disappear for now. Please, be patient with me”

Before the tournament, Qing Jin told her that she would not notice when his plan happened. She’d thought it a joke back then, but now she can see the truth of it. Qing Jin did something in that fight, something that caused panic to spread among the most powerful cultivators in the Crimson Cloud Empire. Yet, it went completely unnoticed by nearly everyone else.

It is as impressive as it is frustrating. Lu Mei wishes to figure out what happened as much as anyone else, yet Qing Jin’s words give her pause. He has always been good at implying much without saying a single word, so she knows she has enough clues to figure things out should she wish to.

However, his actions also told her that knowing would make things far more dangerous.

How annoying. Something quite troublesome has begun. No wonder her Jin claimed he would be busy when the Feng Clan had its little family reunion.

…

Oh dear, she really is going to have to face them alone, isn’t she?

~~~

“Where is he? Where is he?”

“How can it be that no one has seen him?”

“Do you even need to ask that question?:

~~~

In the Infinite Mountain Sect, things are discussed in extreme seriousness and with many silences. A young man is given an important duty.

~~~

In the Divine Frozen Palace, there are furrowed brows and terse conversations. A young lady retires to her room and comes to an important decision.

~~~

In the Endlessly Raging Valley, there is shouting and laughter in equal parts. A young man looks at the defeated body of his twin and vows revenge.

~~~

In the Eternal Flame Clan, Elder Xue is questioned quite thoroughly, and two brothers who have fought much have a frank conversation for the first time in a long while.

~~~

However, where is Emperor Qing Jin?

That is all everyone wants to know, yet the exceedingly high concentration of Emperors in the city ends up working to the young Emperor’s advantage. The air is so saturated with their combined presence that a well-hidden Qi is exceedingly hard to discern.

“You are quite bad at this.”

“My apologies,” Liu Jin says to Emperor Xiang as he moves his piece over the board. “It is my first time playing, and the games my brother-in-law brings to the palace are quite unlike this one.”

“The games Feng Gui makes are quite infamous and not the sort of stuff I’d ever admit to playing. It does not surprise me his nephew has similar vices,” Emperor Xiang says as he moves his white piece. He and Liu Jin are alone in the Imperial Throne room. “However, I am not talking about the game. I am talking about your life.”

Liu Jin blinks.

“Oh?”

“You are weak,” the Emperor tells him bluntly. “Incredibly talented for your age, but that matters little when you are surrounded by those centuries your seniors. You are outmatched by them in every regard, yet you decided to give those people cause to chase you. That was foolish.”

“Perhaps, but it was also the only path forward,” Liu Jin replies, moving his piece.

Emperor Xiang snorts. “I have already heard this part. The Wandering Wind said you needed to impress her. Impressive is one way to call your actions today. Stupid is a far more accurate one.”

“That is not it, Emperor,” Liu Jin says, making the Emperor frown. “I know this has impressed her, but that is not the main reason why I did it.”

Emperor Xiang moves his piece.

“We only have until tomorrow to talk. There is no guarantee you’ll survive longer than that, so you’d best get to the point quickly.”

“The people who tried to kill my master are incredibly powerful,” Liu Jin says, carefully studying the board. His piece is in his hand, but he does not place it yet. “He used to visit the Storm Dragon Empire, and so, the Storm Dragon Empire was turned into a chaotic and desolate land.”

Emperor Xiang raises an eyebrow. “You do not know that for sure.”

“I am certain of it,” Liu Jin says, confident in the knowledge he had gleaned from his master’s jades. “It shows how powerful they are, but it also shows how they work on this side of the Dead Plains. They act through others, through powerful and well-connected people.”

“People in prestigious Sects, you mean. Like the Four Great Sects,” Emperor Xiang surmises. “I understood that already. You showed yourself and alerted every single one of them. You are forcing them to act and, in doing so, expose themselves.”

Liu Jin nods. “Exactly.”

“You keep speaking as if you have done a good thing.”

“They want me, but they cannot find me. If they act overtly, it will force equal or greater actions from others,” Liu Jin explains, placing his piece. “The very presence of so many rivals is my greatest protection. When I show up for my match tomorrow, Lord Feng Shang and Lord Feng Gui could try to grab me on the spot, but…”

“But the ladies of the Divine Frozen Palace will act, and then the Wandering Wind might say something, and the Wandering Wind’s relationship with her own Sect is already incredibly complicated, to say nothing of what the Infinite Mountain Sect might do. Yes, yes, yes, you have successfully weaponized their centuries of slights against them.” Emperor Xiang yawns and places his piece. “In other words, the only way to get to you is through the tournament. Within the ring, it is only you and your opponent. As long as it happens in an officially sanctioned fight, there is room for deniability.”

Liu Jin nods. “That is so.”

“As if my tournament wasn’t bloody enough already. Wonderful. Just wonderful,” Emperor Xiang says, his eyebrow twitching. “Now, child Emperor, tell me, why, oh why, after your outrageous deed, did you decide to hide in my throne room!!!”

To the Emperor’s surprise, Liu Jin smiles sheepishly. However, he’s not the one who answers his question.

“Because I suggested it! Obviously!”

The sharp tap of the cane is an unmistakable sound for Emperor Xiang. He glares sullenly as Granny Zhao enters the room. No doubt, the sudden lack of guards around is her doing.

“These may be the last days of this child’s life,” Granny Zhao says. “Better he spend them here than hidden in some hovel.”

“I was planning on hiding in the city, but she vouched for your strength of character most thoroughly,” Liu Jin tells him in what is surely an attempt to make him feel better.

It does not work. There is no way the old crone would ever praise him freely.

Emperor Xiang wins the game, but it does not make him feel good at all.

~~~