With a flick of her wrist and an application of qi, Cixi dislodged the blood coating her sword. It splattered along the wall in a long arc and her blade disappeared into her robes. Felix’s right eyelid only twitched at the motion, unable to look away from the still bleeding corpse that had somehow remained in a kneeling position.

And there goes my mind once again. Am I the only normal one here? It’s still squirting blood for god’s sake! Oh, Yang Mei looks like she is going to be sick, at least one of these girls is normal…ish.

Felix took a shuddering breath and turned back to the dead body cultivator. His eyes homed in on what remained of the poor man’s skull but he pulled it away with an effort of will. Brushing past Yang Mei, he knelt next to the corpse and began to pat it down.

Just focus on the task at hand Felix, that’s how people in war stories survive the moment, right? Keep the mind and body busy. Just follow the notes… Lesson 72, ‘waste not want not’. Try the pockets, take off the shoes. Pat them down when in a hurry, strip them naked if there is time. Okay, not doing that but do I better check for rings just in case.

A strong hand was placed on his shoulder bringing his frantic search to a pause.

“Felix, are you alright?” Said Yang Mei from behind. He didn’t turn but nodded. She looked down at the shattered head. “How about you go and talk with Daiyu. I know I am not the best schemer here and we need to think about what happened. I’ll search for any items.”

Felix got to his feet but shook his head.

“No, I was able to do it with the bandits and I can do it here. This is a minor matter compared to what we just did.”

“Felix, it's okay to share the burden. Let me do this.” Said Yang Mei. She grimaced. “Life is hard sometimes. I’ve seen worse.”

I want to ask but…

“Thanks Yang Mei.”

He walked back to Daiyu who had moved back near the hole she had made in the wall. The headless swordsman corpse was laid against a wall, the majority of his personal effects now missing.

“Hey,” said a voice from above. They both looked down to see Cixi standing on the wall above them. “It looks like the ambusher on the other side of the wall was an essence condenser as well. Good thing you surprised him Cixi, right through his eye.”

Come on! These two are ruthless. Thought Felix. He cleared his throat.

“That is impressive, but does he have anything on him that would indicate what their affiliation is?” Said Felix.

“Nope,” Said Cixi. She held up a bag. “I grabbed everything of worth but didn’t see anything that would tell us about where these three came from.”

Felix frowned and looked toward his companion.

“What about you Daiyu, did you find anything on your opponent.”

She held up a bag that clinked slightly and slowly shook her head.

“Well shit, I was hoping we could confirm your Empire theory-“ Said Felix, he paused at a tug on his sleeve. “What?” he snapped.

Daiyu ignored his tone and calmly took out her chalkboard, awkwardly propping it up with only one arm.

“We should leave.” Wrote Daiyu. “We can’t be sure that his help won’t actually come. Whoever he was waiting on could have just been delayed.”

“What about guards or the authorities?” said Felix. “Surely they will find out about this eventually and it may be good to tell our story first. Unless you want to hide the corpses?”

“No, I don’t think that will be necessary.” Wrote Daiyu. “This is a bad part of town and without someone who knows what to look for, they will just think they were some low level essence gathers who could theoretically be jumped even by mortals. Or, if they really do bring those with the skills to find out what happened, we won’t be able to avoid them anyway.”

“Right. So, what would you suggest?” Said Felix.

Felix tapped the table with his fingers and caused Tolo’s professional smile to break again. The merchant didn’t stop his silent discussion with Daiyu, their hands blurring. Despite her one arm being heavily bandaged, the small woman easily kept up with one hand. From how aggressive that hand moved, her anger was plain.

Would you look at that? I thought she was all cold killer inside. Just a killer…

He repressed a shiver, pausing in his rapping and earning another glance.

Well, aren’t we all now? It was so easy in the end. How do those people in the stories just move on so easily? It is not the fragility of life that is unnerving, for that man was quite the opposite, but the permanence and the gore. Is death permanent in this world? Bah!

Felix pulled out a tiny pouch of herbs and poured himself water from Tolo’s still steaming teapot. Finding a measure of peace in the task, he prepared a cup of tea as best he could. The furious debate to his side was ignored as he finally took a sip.

That… That does help. Thanks, Everglade. Ahh, the mind roils, doesn’t it? Parts of me are very upset by what happened, oh god no wonder I couldn’t control myself. It’s like a bunch of children got traumatized at once and I was feeling the effects… Well, at least I can confirm that no part of me is from a psychopath, that’s good, I think? How would that even… no, no, don’t go down that rabbit hole. Just focus on the matter at hand.

Taking another sip, he closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. It had minimal effect, as internal whack-a-mole ensued.

Not working, or not in a timely manner. What did Xue say helped with battle fatigue, cultivation? Sort of slash not really the same but maybe that will help.

Felix focused inward until he entered that familiar state. Falling into the familiar pattern, he began cultivating [Heavenly Earth], performing only a few revolutions of the technique. Then he brought himself back to the present.

Alright, that provided a distraction to my internal mayhem. Cool, cool. Wait, the memory of the fight is… not duller but approachable in my mind? Like finally knowing how to pick up a shard of glass without stabbing myself… Kind of?

Absently he picked his cup of tea back up, taking another sip, and observed those internal voices.

Yes, they are doing better. At least these parts of me aren’t fixated on the event in the same way. I will have to think over the repercussions of doing this and I really need to do something about whatever is going on in my mind. This isn’t any way for a person to live and I can’t spend this much time solving internal debate. I’ve probably wasted… Holy shit, those two are still talking?

Felix stared at the Daiyu and Tolo, the pair's debate appearing to have gotten even more agitated. He sighed and set the cup down with enough force that the pair both froze mid hand sign.

“Tolo, Daiyu, I do appreciate the fact that you two can talk quicker like that but we do need to move on at some point. I would also hope to actually have an idea of what is going on when that moment comes so could we speak in a way that everyone here understands?”

Tolo hesitated, his hands dropping from their next word as he began nervously rubbing them together. He looked between Daiyu and Felix, but she gave him a nod.

“I do apologize, Young Master Felix, you just seemed distraught and our conversation had turn-

“Enough,” said Felix, raising a hand. “I hold no grudges and appreciate your attention to detail Tolo, let us move on to the matter at hand.”

“Yes, of course. As I said to Miss Daiyu, you both have my sincerest apologies. Your friends on the floor below as well. If I had even the slightest inkling that you would come under attack, then I would have never sent you two.”

“As I just said, we don’t hold you at fault Tolo,” Said Felix, running a hand through his hair. “I just want to know why the fuck you think we were attacked.”

Tolo bristled but Daiyu snapped her fingers and he froze. Then he deflated.

“Mmm, yes, of course.” Said Tolo. “My man you went out to find actually got back here before you. The idiot was half dead by then and I was barely able to debrief him before you all made it back here. He was following the only lead I had in the past few days on what is riling up the families. Unexpectedly, it led him to a man in the Yang Family.”

“Sorry, Yang Family?” Said Felix.

“Yes, yes, one of those three families that control the City. I believe I mentioned to you earlier. Well, apparently, they may be at fault for all the issues that have been cropping up in the city at the moment. My man overheard the family’s young miss. She was talking to a hooded cultivator about the benefits she would receive if she kept doing what she was doing. When my man decided things were getting too dicey, someone detected him. That brings us here.

“But… Why?” Said Felix. “I mean, did he get any more concrete details than that.”

“No,” said Tolo, his hands rubbing together nervously again. “Apparently they were very careful to protect their words even when they were supposedly alone. That makes me worried. It is a common practice when you are concerned about higher rank cultivators overhearing. The implication of that is what the young Miss and I were discussing.”

“Well, what of our suspicions that perhaps those men had Empire origins?” Said Felix.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Tolo. “Geographical, Pale Hill City is only something they would be interested in after dealing with the Sects. The Beast’s Claw juts out of the Endless Wilderness and ensures they cannot get to us. Beyond that, I can’t think of a reason why they would target here specifically. I mean, maybe there is some resource or treasure I am not aware of, but it would have to be a tightly held secret for me not to hear it.”

“What of the kingdom, or perhaps just local politics?” Said Felix. “I am just making suggestions.”

“Locally, there isn’t a force I know of that would make a move on the city lord. Perhaps there is a new player then but… if they were vying for City lord, they wouldn’t have attacked you. Even a City Lord at the Nascent Soul Rank wouldn’t want to offend a Sect. As for the kingdom… Young Miss might be able to better explain.”

“They wouldn’t waste their time.” Wrote Daiyu, “Especially now that the royal family is gone. That would require a level of coordination between the nobles that simply isn’t there. Even the more powerful families wouldn’t waste manpower like that, not unless there is a treasure that makes it worth the expenditure.”

“Then let’s go back to the empire then,” said Felix, sitting forward. “Do they have a type of government that would make such a ploy easier to do correctly?” At their nods, he grinned. “Based on that, they could be doing a more widespread sort of subterfuge, death from a thousand cuts as it were. This being the major commercial hub of the area, even being out of the way, would make it worth the expenditure.”

“Mmmm, surprising insightful.” Said Tolo. “Well… I will have to move differently now.” He turned to Daiyu and bowed. “Young Miss, I will have to send word to the Clan about our suspicions. How about you four go recover. We can meet again later, and I can share anything more I have dug up. I have some other avenues I want to look into now. How about before you go, I take some of those things off your hands. I have means of selling them without making a fuss.”

“Yes,” Wrote Daiyu, “That would likely be for the best.”

“Actually, I was wondering if you had any cultivation manuals or techniques on sale I could look at, or maybe someplace you could recommend that I go look.”

“I actually do. You won’t find many places that sell such things here, they tend to be snapped up very quickly unless they are absolute trash. Still… I can show you what I have.”

Felix grinned and followed the merchant as he led him through what he had originally believed was a closet. It was a tiny library, filled with books.

They left Tolo, their steps lighter from some of their spoils were turned to coin.

I feel like the weight of my heart is heavier now. Is this the price of blood money, for what else is it to gain from the death of others?

Felix snorted, gaining a look from his companions but he only waved the moment away.

Look at me, a poet and I didn’t even know it.

He hefted an old book he had bought at the last second.

Still, this was the real prize. Nearly everything else was simply labeled trash by the system. It isn’t even that good either, being extremely weak but if it can help my soul issue…

“Halt!” came a voice. They looked to see a group of city guards rushing towards them.

Here I thought the fighting was over.