“I’m sorry, I wasn’t prepared for anyone to visit me.” Da Shi says, kneeling as she properly pours the both of us tea. “This is a separate tea from the one that poisoned me, so it should be fine.” she adds as we both pick up a cup.

I inject my qi into the tea and don’t sense the strange poison that nearly killed her. “Who sent you the poisoned tea?” I ask, taking a sip.

Da Shi shakes her head, “No one. I bought it from the market yesterday.”

We speak for a while, discussing the going ons of the palace and who has been sleeping with who. Da Shi refills the tea whenever it gets low as we talk.

Eventually, something that has been bothering me for a while comes to the forefront of my mind. I frown, looking around the barely decorated room. “What happened?” I ask, motioning to the room and its lack of servants, then to her hair, cut short in disgrace.

Da Shi takes a sip of her tea, stalling while she thinks. “The Second Minister was found dead in his room a year ago, poisoned. Eunuch Yung accused me of the murder, claiming he had witnessed it. When I tried to fight him on the charge, the First Prince backed up his story, claiming that we had both been embezzling state funds. Evidence was planted in my room, and the Emperor was forced to acknowledge me as the guilty party.” She takes another sip of her tea, her face carefully expressionless.

I look into my cup thoughtfully. “What happened to Eunuch Yung?”

“He was found dead in the streets. They made it look like a common robbery.”

I watch her closely, trying to read her. “Did you kill him?”

Da Shi looks me in the eyes as she responds, her every word measured. “No. But I knew it was coming and I did not attempt to stop it from happening,”

I take another sip. “Thank you for telling me.”

Da Shi looks away uncomfortably. “I hate to say it, but your family is my last life line. I need you to trust me.”

“I know. I will speak to my father.” I stand up, bowing to Da Shi.

I’m ready to leave when a message from Shia stops me.

“One last thing,”

Da Shi stands up with me. “Anything.”

“Did you try to kill yourself?” I ask.

It makes sense, living in disgrace as a murderer is no way to live one’s life. No one should have any reason to kill her when she has already lost to the First Prince. Any friends she had couldn't afford to stay with her. I am unique in that my position isn’t tied into court politics and is secure within the sect.

Da Shi doesn’t respond.

“Please don’t do it again. I value your life.”

Da Shi looks into my eyes with resolve. “I won’t. You saving me during my time of highest need has been a clear message from the heavens.”

I pull her into a hug, startling her. After a moment, she returns the affection.

I pull away first and leave her room.

I return to my own room, quickly writing a message for my father. We had been sending messages through Elder Zhu before my sixteenth birthday. It’s about time that I send him another one.

Once I’ve written the message, I change into the commoner robes that I had bought with Jing Xia. No need to draw more attention to myself than I need to.

I still place my sword at my side. I don’t want to be defenceless on the street.

I also grab a flute case that Teng Zhu had made for me on my fifteenth birthday. My fingers trace the artwork carved into the case. It shows the battle of the First Requiem as best I could describe it, the First Requiem Warrior standing prominent. I sigh as I attach the case to my waist on the opposite side of my sword.

I leave the palace, leaving a note with one of the servants for Master An Meng, telling him that I’ll be back in the evening.

The home that we have in the capitol is managed by a trusted servant of my father’s. It takes me a moment to remember its exact location, but I find it eventually.

Guards wearing the silver and white colors of my family stand in front of the gates to our home, watching me warily.

“Tell Lien Chen that I am here to see him with something urgent.” I say to the guards.

The older one nods to the younger one who promptly hurries inside.

I wait outside with the older guard in silence until a scholarly looking man walks out the gate with the younger guard.

“Young Lady Lin!” The scholarly servant bows to me, “Your beauty has only grown with the years.”

“Thank you Lien, your words are too kind.” I respond, smiling at the familiar face.

“What brings you to this lowly servant? You are still with the sect, are you not?” Lien Chen looks at me with worry.

I shake my head in denial of his words. “I am a Core Disciple of the Flowing River Sect. I came here to give you a message for my father.” I pull the letter out and hand it to him. “Make sure it gets to him as soon as you can.”

“Of course, Lady Lin. Would you like to come inside? I am happy to host you.” Lien motions towards the open gate of our old home.

“I’d love to, but I have other things to attend to.” I can’t stop my gaze from locking on to my old home.

“That is a shame. Know that these doors are always open to you, if you desire to enter.” The servant bows to me.

“Thank you. I will remember your words.” I nod my head to the scholarly servant, then to the two guardsmen who look at me with surprise.

Both guardsmen quickly bow when I nod at them.

I turn away from the group, heading back to the palace. Merchants, nobles and guardsmen ignore me as I walk down the street. My commoner clothes did what I wanted them to do in hiding my identity as a member of the Flowing River Sect.

I turn left on the street towards the gate of the main palace when a whiff of strange spirit makes me stop.

Hunger and death. The marks of a demon, but it doesn’t feel as strong as a demon’s spirit usually does. The spirit is gone as quickly as it came, but I felt it in the air.

I turn away from the palace, following the direction that the spirit came from. Whispers of the strange spirit lead me out of the noble district of the city and into the markets near the ocean.

I don’t catch sight of anyone as I follow the spirit, which is strange. This is a moving object or person that I’m following, I’m quite sure of that.

Eventually I reach the same wall that Jing Xia had opened last night, leading into the cultivator market.

I place my hand on the wall, injecting some qi into it. The door reveals itself just as it did for Jing Xia.

I step through into the bustling market. The weak sense of spirit disappears underneath the many differing spirits of the cultivators walking the street.

I sigh in defeat, knowing how unlikely it is that I’ll be able to find the strange spirit again. Cheering from nearby distracts me from my sad thoughts.

My curiosity piqued, I make my way towards a large crowd of people.

“Ten Spirit Stones on the red cultivator!” One man shouts, a young boy holding a box walking up to him a moment later.

“Thirty spirit stones on the one in black!”

I finally make my way through the crowd to see two cultivators with their blades drawn, qi flowing through them.

After a moment the two engage each other. The one in black is clearly outmatched as the red one systematically attacks him with his sword, leaving long cuts on the black cultivator’s arms.

He’s going to lose.

My thoughts are proven wrong when the one in black throws a dagger into the red one’s throat, killing him.

Cheers fill the street as the man in red falls to the ground dead.

I turn away, disgusted. More killing without reason.

My hand clenches the pommel of my sword, the skin turning white.

The feeling of a gaze on me makes me relax my grip on my sword. I don’t look around, or give any indication of the feeling, but a slight itch on the back of my neck makes me wary.

I decide on a quick detour to the tavern I’d gotten drunk in with Jing Xia.

Whoever is watching me is persistent, the feeling not going away as I walk. I turn into an alleyway, hoping to draw whoever it is out.

“Miss cultivator! Young miss!” Someone calls out. I turn in surprise to see the rogue cultivator who had fought in the tavern yesterday running towards me.

I take one step back with my hand on my sword, prepared to draw it. He stops a few steps away, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name and you probably don’t remember me…” He stops speaking and shakes his head. “None of that is important right now. Someone is trying to kill you.”

“Who?” I ask, not relaxing my guard.

“A cultivator in the Foundation Realm by the name of Teng Xi. Someone hired him to kill you.”

“How do you know that?” I ask, my brow furrowing as I relax slightly. The rogue cultivator is familiar and something about that familiarity puts me at ease.

The rogue cultivator rubs the back of his neck as he looks away. “I have ways of knowing these kinds of things.”

I keep my hand on my sword, but relax my body and stand up fully.

“Who are you?” I ask.

“My name is Sun. just Sun.” He looks to the side as if having an internal argument. He looks back at me. “You need to leave now, before they find you.”

The feeling of being watched never left me during our conversation. I frown, trying to think. “Thank you, but I think they already found me.”

I draw my sword, causing Sun to take a half step back in surprise. I turn away from him, towards the direction that the feeling of being watched is coming from.

Five men step from the shadow, each with their sword drawn.

I look back to see Sun gone. Hopefully he’s getting me some help.

Four of the men range from the Sixth Realm of Qi Awakening to the Tenth Realm of Qi Awakening. The fifth man, who I presume to be Teng Xi, is in Foundation Establishment.

“Why are you doing this?” I ask, keeping my senses peeled in case there is another cultivator I hadn’t noticed.

They don’t respond, instead advancing on me.

I take a deep breath, then start softly singing.

The First Requiem: Battlefield Of Blood

Blood flows across the ground as the sounds of battle rings out.

Four men rush me, the leader standing back as he observes the illusion. One slips on a dead body, but the other three quickly reach me. I step back deftly, as I move with The Whispers of The Silent Raven.

Swords and spells fly forward as I deftly move around them.

A sword slips past my guard, slicing my arm.

I call on the soldiers of the battlefield to attack.

They don’t respond as the man in Foundation Establishment steps forward. The illusion shreds around him as plants grow and wilt at his feet from his technique.

I cough blood as the illusion fully shatters, stumbling back and barely dodging another swing from one of the men fighting me.

The man in Foundation Establishment smiles, before a sword breaks through his chest.

Sun steps out from behind him, his aura and spirit having completely changed, rigid and menacing. He stands tall, his movements lacking any hesitation as he walks forward.