The Pakou landed on the house Re'Kha had taken refuge within for the past couple of days. Even without her instructions, it knew what to do, keeping its eyes closed while preventing itself from taking any breaths until it stood upon the roof.

The ceiling had mostly fallen, with the remainder sporting cracks. If it had landed on it, its weight would have caused it to collapse. So, all the Pakou did was balance itself on the top of the walls, using its wings and tail to keep itself steady.

The rain was thinning out now, looking like it would stop soon. So, Re'Kha had to hurry with her task. The streams flowing through the houses were still detailed enough for her to grasp the outline of them all, so she wasn't troubled in sensing her way through.

Re'Kha took in a deep breath as her right hand shone with blue radiance. She punched at the ceiling as her hand projection shot forth, grabbing hold of the ceiling's edge. She then pulled her hand backward halfway before jumping from the ceiling, stopping in the air. She then slowly relaxed her hand, arriving down before her hand projection released its hold.

Re'Kha landed on the ground with a thud, splashing the water collected on it. Through her Water Qi perception, she noticed that the shoulder bag was still in the same place as before. She only took a couple of steps before arriving in front of the breach in the kitchen walls.

Re'Kha punched towards the granary's entrance, sending her hand projection flying in the direction. She stopped her punch towards the end, opening her hand. The hand projection mimicked her hand's actions.

Re'Kha moved her hand a bit downward; in response, the hand projection moved a greater distance before grabbing hold of the bag. Re'Kha pulled her hand backward. In the same time it took her hand to move back, the hand projection returned with the shoulder bag.

It was the principle all Pranic Arts relied upon to become deadly tools during fights. When she curled her hand into a fist and placed them beside her shoulder, it was treated as zero distance. When she activated her Pranic Art, Hand Projection, it remained at zero position, outlining her hand.

When she delivered a full punch, her fist moved from zero position to the maximum length—the length of her arm. Her Pranic Art though, was different. Its range of action was twice the user's height while lasting for three breaths in time.

So, when she delivered a full punch, in the same time it took for her to punch, her hand projection travelled a distance equivalent to two times her height. Because of this simple reason, it accumulated a lot of momentum, a multiple of twice her height divided by the length of her arm.

This momentum resulted in the hand projection containing tremendous force. Similarly, when she moved her hand, both her hand and the hand projection traversed the same angle with respect to her initial position—the shoulder joint.

It meant that the arc length they covered varied based on their distance from the shoulder joint. Suppose her height was twice the length of her arm. It meant her hand projection travelled four times the distance her hand covered during motion—spanning the same time.

So, it could be said that the Pranic Art had four times her power. As for the Pranic Art of the scout leader, Hand-Whip Projection, its maximum range was thrice his height. So, it contained six times his power while in use.

That's why Re'Kha knew that she couldn't win in a head-on fight against the leader. After all, her opponent's Pranic Art had a superior range. In contrast, she only had two Pranic Arts in her arsenal, the palm projection, and the hand projection.

The palm projection was a common Pranic Art that every Harmoniser knew, for it only consumed one Elemental Qi to activate. That's why Re'Kha went through all that effort to lead the scouts towards the exit so that they would rely on their eyes, which would allow her to use the vials to kill them.

She had planned everything meticulously. Sure, there were numerous times her life was put at a risk. But, she could only strive forth with everything she could do and bet her life on it for survival.

Re'Kha grabbed the bag and placed it on the ground before sprinting towards the Aeki she had left in the open. By the time her hand projection disappeared, she fished out the Fire Qi Essence from it while kicking it.

The boiling hot water in the Aeki spilled out, mixing with the water on the ground as it instantly cooled down. The moment her hand projection held the Fire Qi Essence, cracks started to appear on it. Re'Kha mentally willed for it to deactivate, sighing as she saw her hand projection disappear.

She held the Fire Qi Essence with her hand and returned to the house, grabbing the bag as she lifted it with difficulty. She only had five units of Water Qi in her now, unable to use her hand projection. Her palm projection was only a rigid attack and couldn't be used in this situation to lift the bag. All it would ever do is slam the bag and cause it to tear.

Re'Kha dragged it and moved into the side of the house, with both sides of the path covered by walls. Moreover, it was pretty wide, for it was in the centre of the settlement. "Come here!"

Upon her shout, the Pakou landed before her. It had been some time since the scouts had left the settlement, so the Kalhas no longer released their scents. The scent they released had already been washed away and annihilated by the Water Qi in the rain. As the area was silent, the Pakou faced no trouble in landing, not even the slightest disturbance in its concentration or control over its body.

Re'Kha pocketed the Fire Qi Essence and slowly carried the bag over the Pakou's back, finally settling down as she motioned for it to fly, "Let's escape."