The camp on the beach outside the Earthly Fires school’s hidden tunnel looked unchanged from the last time I’d seen it, only this time, I was seeing it from much closer up. The activity around me seemed normal; if the school knew about the loss of their people, I couldn’t see any signs of it. There were no extra guards, no sentries watching the cliff path, and no sign that anything was different. That was odd because according to my quivering stomach, something was definitely amiss. I hadn’t felt any sense of imbalance from the camp last time; now, it was stronger than I’d sensed it anywhere except inside Banisher of Waves’ lab.

The afternoon sun was low in the sky as Bai Ren, Jing, and I strode openly down the path leading from the top of the cliff to the hidden tunnel beneath the School of Earthly Fires. Bai walked in front, with Jing behind her and me trailing back at the end. All three of us were dressed in robes we’d taken from the Earthly Fires group that was tracking Bai. Jing and I wore brown student robes, while Bai Ren was wrapped in Builder’s old orange instructor robe. She hadn’t wanted to don it at first, but I reminded her that she was the only one of us who knew the school well enough to pretend to be a teacher there, and she relented.

It took two days for Wim and Dif to put together enough people and support for this plan to have a chance at success. As Dif predicted, both Builder-in-Stone and Holder-of-Green-Fire talked freely about what their school was doing. I wasn’t there for the interrogation, but several sect leaders were. It seemed that they weren’t very happy with whatever they heard from the pair, because they’d put aside their selfishness and agreed to send people to join us in our expedition. Judging from their uniforms, there were representatives from five different groups beyond the Brilliant Desert Sea and Amber Teardrop hiding in the forest at the top of the cliff. None of the groups was large – most had three to five people tops – but together, they would likely outnumber the Earthly Fires people below.

At least, that’s what I hoped.

As we walked, I stole glances at Jing and Bai Ren, marveling at the changes they’d both undergone. Rising to Water rank had turned Jing into some kind of perfect, deadly doll. Her hair, always glossy black, now gleamed blue-black in the descending sunlight. Her porcelain skin looked perfectly smooth and flawless, and her once-dark eyes now gleamed steel-gray. This close, I could feel a sense of coiled power radiating from her.

Bai had also undergone her share of changes in the past week, but they weren’t as innocuous seeming as Jing’s. Wim’s best guess was that Banisher of Waves bonded the core of some fire-using monster to Bai-Ren. Since she was a natural fire cultivator, that boosted her power significantly. However, despite the dead man’s promises, she’d also already started to take on an altered appearance. Her pale skin had a ruddy tint to it, as if she were perpetually sunburned. Her dark hair was dyed auburn to match the new shade of the roots growing in, and her eyes looked constantly bloodshot. Her slim fingers had gotten longer, as had the nails at the ends of them, and her face was thinner and curiously foxlike. If the changes bothered the woman, she hadn’t mentioned it; however, I supposed that the lethal pill she carried in her robe made it all moot, anyway. In all honesty, I was happy with the alterations, because they made it far less likely that anyone would recognize her.

That was my fervent prayer to whatever gods existed on this world as we headed toward the tunnel entrance, where the two guards on duty – two different ones from the men who’d waved me through last time – stiffened into attentiveness as they saw the orange-robed woman approaching them.

“Master of the Sixth Circle,” one of the guards bowed so low she was nearly horizontal. “You honor us with your visit. How can we assist you?”

“I am taking these to join the group below. I will return to the school through the tunnel when I am finished.” The woman spoke in as arrogant a tone as she could manage, which wasn’t really much of one. I’d spent two days working on it with her, and the best I could get from her was a hint of disdain. She just wasn’t a conceited person, I suppose. That was nice and all, but for this trip, I’d have preferred she be more Malfoy and less Weasley. Unfortunately, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

The two guards glanced at one another. “F-forgive me, Master of the Sixth Circle,” the second stammered, “but by order of Builder-in-Stone, the passage to the school is forbidden to all. We – we cannot allow you to pass.” I’d had a feeling that might be the case since it was obvious they’d detected my intrusion. Fortunately, I’d coached Bai on what to do if that was the case, and she had plenty of natural anger to tap into.

“You dare to forbid me passage?” she demanded, her fury evident in her voice. “Both of you, stand before me, this instant! Who is in charge of this camp?”

“D-Delver-in-Diamonds,” the female guard stammered as both guards shuffled to stand right in front of Bai, neither looking please to be there. “Please forgive me, Master…”

“No, I will not.” Bai leaned toward the guard, who gulped nervously but held her ground. “I will punish you for this effrontery, then I will punish Delver-in-Diamonds below!”

“Please, Master…” the man protested.

“Enough!” Bai snapped angrily. “Where will I find Delver-in-Diamonds?”

“In-in the largest tent,” the female guard answered.

“Then that is where I will go.” Bai hesitated, then smashed a backfist into the male guard’s face. The man cried out as the blow flung him back into the cliff wall. The other guard cowered back, but Bai just glared at her. “I will return soon. Consider yourselves warned.”

I blinked in surprise, then followed Bai as she led us down the path toward the camp below. I recalled the woman’s sparring match in the school courtyard when I first saw her; she hadn’t been able to move nearly that quickly or hit that hard. If she had, her battle would have gone very differently.

“You’ve gotten stronger, Bai Ren,” I murmured to her softly as we descended.

She nodded curtly. “Indeed, Xu Xing. I have spent the past week hunting powerful beasts and slaughtering them with the help of the Brilliant Desert Sea School. Thanks to what was done to me, I have grown more swiftly than ever I could. Unfortunately, the price for that power is one that I am unwilling to pay.”

I didn’t say anything, but it occurred to me that not everyone would agree. I’m sure there were plenty of people who would hungrily grab for the kind of power Bai had gained no matter the cost. That was the real danger, to me. Every nation on Earth had its oppressed and underprivileged, and it seemed that Kuan was no different. Those people at the bottom of the ladder would leap for the chance to pay back the ones who’d been keeping down, and thanks to their qi poisoning ability, they might just be able to do it.

“Do you see anything amiss, Xu Xing?” Jing asked quietly from beside me. “Is the camp any different from the last time you were here?”

“No, nothing,” I replied. “And that worries me, because I would think that Builder-in-Stone’s group disappearing would have put them on high alert. How about you, Bai Ren? You know them better than the rest of us.”

“So I once thought, Xu Xing,” the woman at my other side said bitterly. “And yet, events have shown otherwise.” She sighed and glanced around. “They do not seem to be in any distress, however. I see no signs that they are preparing to disperse this encampment, nor did the guards display heightened watchfulness around the tunnel entrance.”

“I find it difficult to believe that the master of this encampment posts only two guards at the tunnel,” Jing shook her head. “Certainly, more would have been more secure.”

“It would have,” I agreed. “I think they’re relying on stealth instead of manpower, though.”

“What do you mean, Xu Xing?”

“There are a lot of ways to protect something, Jing. One way is to put guards on it. If you do that, you’re telling everyone that you have something valuable, but that they’ll have to fight to take it from you. Another way is to hide it; if no one knows you have something, they can’t try to take it from you. I think that’s what the school’s doing, here. They could have packed this place with guards, but that would have drawn attention, and I don’t think they can handle multiple sects coming down on them at once.” I glanced upward toward the gathered forces hidden at the top of the cliff. “At least, that’s what I’m hoping.”

Bai continued stalking down the path toward the camp below, her steps heavy and her back straight. She wasn’t really much of an actress, but for that scene, she hadn’t had to be. Like I said, the woman had plenty of anger to tap into, and it was all directed at the school that betrayed her. She wasn’t faking anything at that moment; her rage was totally real.

The reality of that anger caused every student we encountered to scatter as we approached the beach below. When we reached it, though, my heart sank a little. From higher up, it looked like the camp was a scattering of tents along the beach with maybe fifteen or twenty people spread out among them. What I couldn’t see from up top was the cave entrance at the base of the cliff, and that the twenty people on the beach kept coming and going out of that cave. I had no idea how many people might be inside it, which meant we needed to go find out.

Bai stopped a student scurrying past, with an upraised palm. “Yes, Master of the Sixth Circle?” the wide-eyed young man asked nervously.

“I seek Delver-in-Diamonds,” she said as haughtily as she could. The anger in her voice helped with that, for sure. “Also, where can I cleanse my hands? I was forced to bloody one on a student’s chin.”

“M-Master of the Sixth Circle, the sea behind us…” the man stammered, gesturing toward the ocean, but Bai cut him off.

“I cannot clean myself in sea water, foolish one. Where is clean water in this camp?”

“I-I will take you to our drinking water, Master of the Sixth Circle,” he bowed low. “Come, this way.”

I concealed a sigh of relief. Unlike in the cursed quarry, there were no cooking pots here in the school’s camp, mostly because cultivators didn’t need to eat. We did need to drink, though, so I’d hoped that the camp had a fresh water supply. I didn’t think that even cultivators could get by drinking salt water, after all.

The nervous student led us to a crack in the cliff, where a trickle of water poured slowly but steadily into a stone cistern that someone carved or shaped from the rock below. A stone bucket rested beside it, and the student scooped a pail of the water and held it out for Bai.

“Here, Master of the Sixth Circle,” he said deferentially. “This will allow you to cleanse yourself.”

Bai plunged her hands into the bucket, probably grateful to rinse the faint stain of blood from her fist. While she did, I eased over to stand beside the cistern and steadily palmed pills into it. The pills slipped soundlessly into the pool of water and began dissolving at once. I had no idea what concentration I’d need to affect anyone who drank the water, so I added as many pills as I could manage before Bai stepped back, drying her hands on her robe.

“Satisfactory, student. Now, tell me where to find Delver-in-Diamonds.”

“He is in the rearmost chamber of the caverns, Master of the Sixth Circle,” the man bowed to her. “Simply enter the passage and continue straight until you reached the barred door.”

“Excellent.” She turned to look at us. “Follow me.” Jing and I dipped our heads to her silently and followed as she led us into the cave at the base of the cliff.

The moment we stepped inside, my stomach did another flip, and the sense of imbalance grew stronger. I put it aside as best I could and looked around, taking in as many details as possible. The passage looked like a natural one to me, with irregular walls and a smooth but rounded floor. It was lit with the same fuel-free torches I’d seen in the caves below the school, and the passageway was just wide enough for three or four people to walk beside one another. The students we saw quickly made way upon seeing Bai’s robe, but rather than head back to the main cave, we took some time to explore. We didn’t really want to confront the person in charge here, at least not yet. The three of us might be able to handle an instructor, especially if they were Water-ranked, but if Delver was Sky-ranked, we were going to need some help.

There were only a few side passages leading from the main branch. The first ended in a door that was shut but not sealed, and opening it revealed another charnel house like the one connected to Banisher’s lab. I eyed the rotting beast and human corpses with distaste, but Jing and Bai looked horrified at them.

“This – what is this?” Jing whispered softly.

“If I had to guess?” I replied grimly. “I’d say that Strider of the Mountain spread the knowledge of how to implant beast cores, and they’re doing it down here now instead of under the school. Or maybe they’re doing it in both places, I don’t know.”

“These bodies – they are all beasts with their cores removed?” Bai asked in a disgusted tone.

“Probably, yes. And the people are ones for whom the process wasn’t successful. At least, that’s how it was beneath the school.” I shook my head.

“I have never seen such purposeless slaughter,” Jing said in the same, quiet voice. “And to allow the bodies of practitioners to rot with those of beasts – this is desecration, Xu Xing!”

“Yeah, well, that seems to be the least of the problems with what the school’s doing, in my opinion.” I led the two back out of the room and shut it behind me. “Let’s look and see what else we can find while we wait for the doctored water to start having an effect.”

The next room was a storeroom, and opening one of the crates revealed stacks of dried leaves, sacks full of nuts and dried berries, and tangles of roots. I couldn’t identify most of what I saw, but I knew alchemical ingredients when I saw them. That just reinforced my guess; either the school had moved their production of corrupted practitioners down here, or they’d added this place as a second factory.

The next room confirmed that guess. The room was empty except for rows of shelves running along the walls, all stacked with plain, wooden boxes. I grabbed one and looked at it. The top was labeled, “Six-Clawed Stone Eater”. Opening it revealed a single, glowing orb etched with strange runes and smelling faintly of medicinal herbs.

“A beast core,” Bai Ren said breathlessly, her hand clutching her abdomen, probably without her even realizing it. She looked around. “Are these all…?”

“They cannot be,” Jing shook her head emphatically. “There are hundreds of boxes, here. The school could not have slaughtered hundreds of beasts and harvested their cores in such a short time.” She hesitated. “Could they?”

“It depends on how long they’ve been at it,” I said grimly. “If they’ve been collecting cores for years for this day, then yeah, they probably could.”

“This one is empty,” Bai said, opening a random box and sighing with relief.

“As is this one,” Jing agreed, peering into a third box. “Perhaps they are simply preparing to use these boxes when they receive the cores they need.”

“Can I hold that?” I asked, slipping the core in my hand into a pocket and taking the empty one from Jing. I sniffed it and grimaced. “Nope, it’s been used. I can smell the medicines the core was bathed in, which means it was probably used very recently, too.”

“That core is different from the one Banisher of Waves used, too,” Sara said softly in my mind.

“What?”

“It’s different. The shape isn’t quite the same, the runes covering it aren’t right – whoever made this one didn’t do it the same way Banisher of Waves did.”

“Can you tell how it’s different?”

“If I had one of the original cores to look at? Probably. I don’t know that I could tell you what it means, though.”

We looked quickly through the boxes and found that about nine in ten were empty. “That can’t be good,” I sighed, shaking my head. “Hundreds of beast cores missing and a new lab where they’re obviously performing their experiments? No, definitely not good.”

“Should we explore further?” Jing asked worriedly. “Or should we return and report our findings?”

“I believe we should continue,” Bai said firmly. “There is still the space at the end of the hall, where Delver-in-Diamonds awaits us. He will certainly know the truth of the fate of those beast cores.”

“Yeah, waiting with who knows how many other teachers and assistants,” I shook my head. “No, the smart thing to do is head back, report, and give my medicines a couple hours to spread through the camp.”

“But…” Bai protested, but I cut her off.

“We brought others with us for a reason, Bai Ren,” I said adamantly. “We’ll use them for that purpose.” I looked at her seriously. “You’re going to get your chance for vengeance, I promise. But do you really want to throw your life away against a Sky-ranked practitioner, not knowing if it was worth it or not? Or do you want to watch your enemies fall and then end things on your own terms?”

Bai stared at me, then lowered her chin. “You are wiser than you let on, Xu Xing,” she said softly. “You are correct. Let us return.” She hesitated. “The guards at the tunnel, though…”

“Deal with them the way we planned,” I said. “They’re expecting us to return, anyway.”

The guards looked terrified as we walked back up the path toward the tunnel entrance. The man shrank back, but the woman hesitantly moved to put herself in front of the tunnel, blocking our passage.

“M-Master,” the woman began, but Bai held up a hand, and she fell silent.

“Do you still intend to prevent my passage?” she asked calmly.

“We must, Master of the Sixth Circle,” the woman said, swallowing hard. “Should we fail Builder-in-Stone, our punishment…” She shivered. “Whatever you intend to inflict upon us will certainly be preferable.”

“I see,” Bai nodded. She hesitated, then swept her arm in a wide backhand. The guards cringed back, obviously expecting some sort of powerful technique. What they weren’t expecting was the cloud of powder that swirled directly into their faces as Bai crushed the Restless Slumber pill in her palm and flung it at them. Both guards blinked in surprise before dropping heavily to the ground, their eyes closed and their breathing deep and regular. Bai brushed off her hands and shook her head.

“I cannot believe that worked, Xu Xing,” she said with a short, bitter laugh as she dusted off her hands. “How long will they sleep?”

“A couple hours at most,” I replied pulling out two Qi Venom pills and handing one to Jing. I slipped mine into the male guard’s mouth, then began tearing his robe to bind him. I heard the ripping of fabric as Jing did the same to the female guard.

“That should be plenty of time,” Jing pointed out. “If this is not completed in two hours, then it will not be completed at all, Xu Xing.”

“You’re probably right.” I lifted the guard and carried his unconscious frame into the tunnel mouth, laying him against the wall where he wouldn’t be seen by anyone coming up or down the path. Jing placed the other guard beside the first, and we stepped back out into the fading sunlight.

“Now what?” Jing asked.

“Now, we report to the others and wait for sundown. Then?” I smiled darkly. “Then, we wipe this camp off the face of Kuan.”