On one side of the sect, there were dazzling colours and much commotion, but on another, it was quiet. Silent as the grave.

“So, this is how it ends?”

“Seems like it.”

Zhu Fan and Zhu Ning were both laying on the ground, incapacitated. They had just been struck down by Jing’er’s blades and were now in their final moments.

“You’ve grown strong, Jing’er.”

“That’s a bit of an understatement, don’t you think, Fan?”

“Haha. Perhaps you’re right.”

Zhu Ning struggled to raise his head. He couldn’t use the weight of his legs to counter that of his upper body. That was on account of the fact that his legs had already faded into nothingness and the rest of his body was rapidly following.

“Aren’t you going to see us off, Jing’er?”

Jing’er had his back turned to his two uncles and said nothing.

“So it’s like that.”

Zhu Ning sighed and fell back to the ground, facing up to the night sky.

“Well, I hope you never find yourself stuck at a bottleneck, Jing’er.”

“Same here. You never know what you’ll do to gain more power. Growing up, we never thought we would ever become demonic cultivators, but when it came to it, we were too weak to resist.”

Silence reigned until Zhu Ning and Zhu Fan were on their last breaths.

“You need to watch out Jing’er. The Merchant Guild was behind this.”

“Mm. They won’t take this lying down. They might even go after the clan.”

“I hope you’ll be able to weather the coming storms.”

“Mm. Although, with your talent, maybe you’ll be able to do even more than that.”

Jing’er remained silent and Zhu Ning’s and Zhu Fan’s bodies continued to wither away.

As the decay reached their necks, they prepared themselves to speak their final words, but then they heard something strange.

“Rain?”

It was a bit of a surprise to hear the pitter-patter of rain while in the sect, and yet, there it was. It wasn’t very frequent, just the odd drop or two, and the two didn’t feel anything hit their faces. But it was undoubtedly the sound of rainfall.

It didn’t take them long to realise that the guardian formation was no longer standing and that the true night sky had now overtaken the imitation that had existed before.

Along with the sound of rain, they heard two swords being sheathed, followed by some shuffling sounds on the ground, and then a shaking voice.

“Uncle Fan… Uncle Ning… I’m sorry.”

Those words struck Zhu Fan and Zhu Ning deeply.

“Who knew I would die crying? You’ve brought shame to me, Jing’er.”

“Crying? Are you sure it’s not just the rain hitting your eyes?”

“There’s no rain, Ning.”

Zhu Ning felt a warm stream flow down the side of his face.

“I see.”

***

Ju Li watched as the great elder crumbled into dust. It wasn’t just him. A little ways away, she saw the same thing happen to another. And another.

It wasn’t just her who noticed what was happening. The eight women were also there to bear witness. It seemed all of the demonic cultivators the light touched would be vaporised. At least for those below a certain level of cultivation.

They could still detect the fighting that was happening in some areas of the sect, though it seemed to be less intense than it was earlier.

Matriarch Radiant Jade looked to her hands then to Hei. She knew that the technique she had used wasn’t something she could do by herself. For one thing, she had no knowledge of the Zhu Clan’s Evil Slaying. And even if she did know it, blending two techniques on the fly wasn’t something she was capable of. The black string connecting the two made it obvious to her that it was Hei’s doing.

“What was that?”

“Nothing much.”

“If you could just expl-”

“It seems the powerful enemies have been dealt with.”

Hei placed his fingers over his eyes and adjusted his mask. At the same time, he undid the synchronisation techniques with the eight women and felt a wave a fatigue wash over him. He hadn’t exerted himself this much since he first awakened his spiritual perception. His healing ability prevented him from losing consciousness, but he didn’t want to use any of his mental energy for a good while.

Unfortunately, he had a few insights into the synchronisation techniques, and now was the opportune time to jot them down.

All eight women now returned to their normal conditions, but it almost felt as if they were starved of qi. Their constant supply had been cut off in an instant. It was as if they had their warm blankets rudely whipped away from them and were now exposed to the frigid air. It didn’t take long to adjust, but those few seconds were extremely uncomfortable.

They watched as Hei turned back to the desk and started writing down some notes.

“… What do we do now?”

“I don’t know. Do we just go home, or…”

“What are you going to do, Matriarch Radiant Jade?”

“Me? Maybe I’ll help finish off the rest of the sect members.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Yeah. I’m not doing anything else right now. Might as well help out.”

The women had just decided what they were going to do when they saw a sheet of paper flying through the air.

“You can leave that to the Zhu Clan. I found the locations of the Crimson Moon’s vaults. You may be able to find some of your belongings if they were taken from you. If not, there are still the other treasures and artefacts they have amassed over the years. There’s no need to let them go to waste.”

There were bright eyes all around.

“Great! I’ll go tell the others.”

”Mm. Maybe my necklace is still there.”

“They took my spatial ring. I hope it's still there. It was a family heirloom.”

“But, you guys… how are we going to split it?”

“…”

There was silence until they saw Ju Li pointing at Hei.

“Haha… ha… Who was thinking of taking his treasure? It sure wasn’t me…”

“Right! Naturally, they all belong to him.”

“Mm. We’ll just take our things and be on our way.”

“That’s the only way to do it.”

Matriarch Radiant Jade took the map Hei had drawn and went off with the others to loot the vaults.

Behind them, they heard a warning.

“It would do you well to avoid taking anything from the bodies of the fallen.”

***

“Ooh, look. It’s a water element sword. And it’s grade isn’t too bad either. This would be perfect for my techniques.” “If no-one minds, I’ll help myself.”

“Wait. Don’t you see the pair of clothes lying next to it?”

“Yeah?”

“He told us not to take anything from the fallen.”

“Oh, come on. Like he said, there’s no point letting it go to waste.” “Besides, I don’t believe in ghosts.”

“Who said anything about ghosts?”

“What other reason could there be?”

“Well… There’s… Hm… I can’t really think of one.”

“Then.” She walked up to the sword and bent down to grab ahold of it.

“See? Nothing hap-”

“Mine!”

A flaming sword struck the one she was holding, causing it to fly out of her hand. Before it could land on the ground, a flaming man ran past and swiped it from the air. He wasn’t wearing anything on his upper body and had a crazed look in his eye as he stroked the sword.

After a moment, he turned to her with a smile on his face.

“I see you’re interested in my sword.” “Tell you what, since I’m a fire element cultivator and this is a water element sword, I’m willing to let it go for a reasonable price.” “What do you say, Miss? I’m sure we can come up with something we can both agree on.”

She blinked a few times in bewilderment.

“I don’t have any money.”

“Is that so?” His smile faded and he popped the sword into his spatial ring.

“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to insist that you look and don’t touch.”

After that, he ran off and disappeared into parts unknown.

Along with him went all of the miscellaneous items on the street.

“…”

She turned to her companions.

“…”

They didn’t have anything to say either.

***

“And that’s how it's done.” Auntie Yimin dusted off her hands. “Did you catch that, Xiaoli?”

“Catch what? I told you you were moving too fast!” “I couldn’t see anything!”

“Really? But I was trying to go slow for you.”

“That really makes me feel better, Auntie Yimin…”

“Ahem.” “Why don’t we look for more opponents?”

Xiaoli looked around to the ruinous wasteland around the two.

“Where? You’ve already scared everyone away.”

“Geez. You would think a demonic sect would have more mettle than this.”

“I think they had plenty. You’re just too extreme.”

“…” “I’m sure we can find one or two resilient ones.”

“Just forget it. I’m going back.” Xiaoli turned around and stomped off.

“Back to where?”

“…” Xiaoli turned around with flushed cheeks. “Back to Jing’er and the others.”

“Jing’er and the others, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do I feel like you want to see the others more than Jing’er?”

“…” “Whatever, Old Hag!”

Xiaoli scurried away.

“Who are you calling old hag? You little brat!”

Auntie Yimin chased after her, but surprisingly, Xiaoli was difficult to catch. It wasn’t until she stumbled over some rubble that Auntie Yimin grabbed her by the collar.

“Wait, Auntie Yimin! I was just jealous of your beauty! I wish I looked half as good as you did when you were still wrinkly!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Auntie Yimin ruffled Xiaoli’s hair.

“Ugh. Stop it!”

“Who would have guessed that your best ability was running away?”

“Huh?”

“You’re a fast little thing.”

“Really?”

“Mm.” “But it seems your dynamic vision isn’t on par with your speed.”

“Then if I work on it…”

“You might unlock some hidden potential.”

“And surpass you and Jing’er!”

“Uh… Yeah, sure.”

“…”

***

“Can I ask you something?”

“Ask.”

“Are you trying to make yourself a god?”

“No.”

“But you said-”

“It won’t be me.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m more of a guiding hand.”

“So you will raise the ruler?”

“Yes.”

“Who will it be?”

“Maybe it will be you.”

“…”

“Relax. It was a joke.”

“No it wasn’t.”

“…”

“Why not do it yourself?”

“I have more important things to do.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t need to.”

***

Jing’er followed his spiritual awareness until he reached a strange location. It was a tiled floor surrounded by rubble. There was nothing on it beside a desk and a few chairs. At that desk were a child-like form in black, and another child, a girl, sitting next to him.

He walked up to them and took a seat.

“Who’s this?”

“She’s Honghuo’s sister.”

“Oh. So she’s okay?”

“More or less.”

Jing’er turned to Ju Li.

“Hey there, little one. What’s your name?”

“Perhaps it's best to introduce yourself before you ask for someone else’s name.”

Jing’er was taken aback by her response. He turned to Hei.

“She isn’t wrong.”

“R-right.”

Jing’er turned back to Ju Li.

“My name is Zhu Jing. You can call me Jing’er. Everyone does.”

“You’re Zhu Clan scum?”

“Hm?”

Jing’er opened his eyes wide, surprised by the sharpness of her words. He turned to Hei.

“She isn’t wrong.”

“But… Did you tell her what happened?”

“It’s hardly an excuse.”

“But…” Jing’er switched his gaze to Ju Li.

“He isn’t wrong.”

“...” Jing’er turned to Hei. “Are you sure she’s not your sister instead?”

Hei and Ju Li exchanged glances before returning to their previous business.

The three sat in silence for a little while until they heard a voice in the distance.

“Ju Li!”

A ball of fire rapidly approached and was headed straight for Ju Li.

“Wait. Brother, you need to calm-”

Before she could finish her sentence, she found herself flying through the air, clutched by the arms of that fireball. Once they stopped, the fire disappeared and what was left was her brother who had tears in his eyes. Her feet were still dangling in the air though.

“I was so worried about you, Ju Li.”

He squeezed her hard and rotated his torso, causing her dangling legs to flop about.

“Brother. You’re squeezing too hard. I can’t-”

“There’s no need to worry now, Ju Li. I won’t let anything happen to you ever again.”

“That’s fine, but could you just-”

“That Merchant Guild is going to pay for this. I’ll burn them to the ground!”

At this point, Ju Li’s breath was escaping her. It wasn’t until a few moments later that her brother realised this and finally released his grip.

“Haha. Sorry, Ju Li. As you can see, I got a bit stronger since the last time we met.”

“Cough. Yeah. I can see that.” Ju Li gasped for breath before standing straight and looking up into her brother’s eyes. She truly felt like these events were behind her now. But she couldn’t help slapping his arm.

“I heard about what you were doing, Brother. Are you crazy? You could have gotten yourself killed. What would I do then?”

“Haha. Sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.” He embraced her once more then placed her upon his shoulders.

She pounded her fists against his head.

“That’s putting it too lightly. You were being completely reckless. And it’s not just that…”

She continually berated her brother but all she managed to achieve was to brighten his smile and increase his laughter. She could see just how happy he was to be reunited with her and as a result, her arms lost their strength and the corners of her lips crept up.

“Thank you for coming to rescue me, Brother.”

“Any time, Ju Li.”