‘’Spare me the blade.‘‘ The man pleaded, whispering. ‘‘Please, senior.‘‘

Zhang Cai took a step forward at him. They both tettered at the edge of the branch, features brightened by the flames and shadows spread all over them. There were no critters to be seen once more. He heard no voice, and the snores had turned lighter.

What was he to do in this situation?

He gazed at the man cloaked by a dark cape over deep brown robes, whose face was unblemished and splendid as he carried a pair of black eyes like onyx. His nose small, eyebrows sharp, and lips just the right amount curved, presented him innocent. In every way, he was a match to the fair charisma of Li Bo with his fair purity.

The man held both arms above, showing through the wrinkles of his clothes he carried no hidden weapons, holding nothing of sort, but carrying a small dirk at his waist sheathed in gold scabbard.

What would be the proper thing to ask?

Many scenarios passed Zhang cai‘s mind. A helpless traveler, a demon, a fiend, an acquaintance, a random wanderer...but even when he thought so, he kept his blade high and pointed at the man, watching his every tremor and his purplish fingers and neck and the tint of red on his nose.

‘‘I...‘‘ the man stuttered. ‘‘I-I am cold. I saw the fire far away, I truly just saw it!‘‘

Holding his hand to his mouth, the man got on his knees, arms stiff.

‘‘Please, I am cold. I am freezing. I feel like my bones are about to fall off. Just let me stay in the warmth for a while. I will go right after. I beseech you, o senior.‘‘

Zhang Cai kept his gaze. His grip on the hilt hardened.

The man prostrated himself. But Zhang Cai saw his hands squirm a little closer to him, to the flames dancing around, warming up his chest and face. Those white fingers painted purple and blue from cold and bruises tried, little by little, to touch the edge of the yellow light on the branch.

What do I do!? Fucking bastard...

What would Li Bo do? The most important thing he learned all this time was that he was no longer alone. They traveled together, ate together, drank together, and slept together. He could not make this decision by himself, no matter how safe or agonizing it might seem. But he had trouble with his conscience. To him, who knew the value of kindness, how could he not spare it to someone so pitiful, and so much more clearly in need of it?

What about Li siblings‘ kindness?

That single thought wore all doubts away from him. He was here by the grace of them, and he would only grace others with kindness if they did permit so.

‘‘Li Bro.‘‘ He said aloud. Not too loud, just enough to make himself heard a few meters away. But he lowered the blade to the man‘s feet.

From the tent came out Li Bo, not one bit sleepy or tired, a grave glare in his eyes with such fury Zhang Cai felt his belly churn.

‘‘Good job, Zhang!‘‘

What had happened?

Zhang Cai‘s gaze shot back, and he saw the dirk about to dive into his neck. A shadow by this point, he had no chance to evade.

His arm tensed, the blade rose up in a brilliant arc, but did not reach quite enough. Pupils dilated, Zhang Cai could almost see the blood pouring out of him in loads.

Bastard!

Li Bo appeared between him and the man, and he slapped the weapon away. It tumbled and rolled, then fell down to the darkness below. And the man behind the cloaks laughed.

‘‘I have seen enough!‘‘

‘‘You have not seen enough of me!‘‘ Li Bo grit his teeth and stabbed his fingers at the man. A spiral of Qi came to be around his fingers, flowing like water yet burning, contained to a solid shape so condensed the temperature around them rose by dozens.

The lance of fire shot forth. It traveled under the shadow of the weaker fire and struck the cloak left behind. A bright hole opened up and the owner disappeared. The lance whistled forward and penetrated several trees before it snuffed out.

Zhang Cai rubbed his neck and watched the seared holes on the majestic trunks, all of them ablaze and in ashes. The fire continued to spread at a fast rate through their trunk to the roots and to the crowns.

‘‘That...who was that? What was he!?‘‘ Zhang cai asked.

He asked, but he hoped he would not be asked anything in return. A blunder, a mistake. A great error...

‘‘A demonic low-life. Always quick to escape...damn it!‘‘ Li Bo stomped on the ground. The tree quaked.

He cast a look at Zhang Cai, but did not say anything. Li Bo walked past him, gave a soft pat to his shoulder, and went back into the tent. From inside his voice came.

‘‘Wake up, junior sister. We have pursuers. Get prepared...Junior brother! Gather everything, we are going out!‘‘

He did as per order. He took up his blade, hand shaking, and sheathed it, and he took up the nails of the tent and its ropes and the torch tied around his forearm. They re-kindled the pair and dashed away in formation, away and away until the crackling of the fire disappeared and they no longer smelled the ash; cold, silent, in the dark again where they increased the pace.

‘‘A demonic?‘‘ Li Huan asked.

‘‘That kind of stolen features, I can discern everytime.‘‘ Li Bo answered. ‘‘The nose and the lips were stolen from a woman, and his eyes were blind from the demonic art he practiced.‘‘

Blind?

Blind yet so strong, so quick, so accurate...and if he thought true, the man was a fourth-step Glassmade like him. The thought of such people existing all around frightened Zhang Cai. He gazed down at the earth and at the roots and the trunks and stumps existing all around, in search of a shadow that could not be seen and an enemy that did not exist. He found nothing. Even under the illumination of the bamboo torch, the frigid dirt and green landscape refused to reveal anything.

‘‘Why did we not kill him?‘‘ Li Huan asked.

Kill?

Who? Kill who? That man?

‘‘If he felt safe enough to scout us, that cockroach must have people waiting for him.‘‘

‘‘We could deal with a handful of demonics.‘‘ Li Huan said. She had her cheery smile on, and her little hand on the hilt of her blade. ‘‘Can‘t we?‘‘

How? What the fuck are they talking about?

They killed one before. He was so sure of it. This nonchalant attitude against taking a life, as vile as the target might be, stumped Zhang Cai. His gaze no longer wandered around but remained on the siblings‘ backs. He peered not at them, but at their thoughts. He thought, as they did, and he tried to understand how.

How the fuck did they not regard the life so precious? When he thought of his own sin, he shuddered for hours. Many times he was alone, he admonished himself, and he swore to keep himself busy so that he would not go mad from his sin of killing another human. Even his victims were not innocent, and not the man they talked about who tried to stab him on his back, but...but it was wrong. It was wrong all over. Killing itself; this uncaring, worthless-like attitude towards life.

Did Zhang Cai not know of the demonics? He knew alone they practiced demonic arts, which bred power from the suffering of the enemies.

Then why did he think this way? Why did he think of these two siblings as the real monsters for a moment?

‘‘Caicai, what happened?‘‘

Zhang Cai glanced at Li Huan‘s curious, worried gaze.

He looked forward. ‘‘Nothing.‘‘

‘‘Alright!‘‘ She said and for a while they kept the pace until Li Bo stopped.

‘‘This won‘t do.‘‘ he said. ‘‘That demonic cultivator had onyxian eyes. He is blind, but also a far better scout than others, since he can see warmth and cold.‘‘

‘‘But if we put out the flames, we won‘t be able to see anything.‘‘ Zhang Cai said.

‘‘That is not what I suggest, junior brother.‘‘ Li Bo said. ‘‘There can be more than one of them with the same eyes, or with a martial arts focused on spotting. It does not matter if we put it out or not.‘‘

‘‘Capable enough will find either way...‘‘

Zhang Cai looked back. Below his feet he felt the rough cold, the comfortable cotton socks of his pressing against the base of his slippers. But the cold did not go away. He felt it deeper, in his spine and up on his nape.

‘‘What, then?‘‘ He said, a little ridicule in his sneer. ‘‘Do we wait and kill them?‘‘

Li Bo cast him an endearing look. ‘‘Good solution.‘‘

One brow raised, Zhang Cai tipped his straw hat to take a clear look at him. ‘‘Are you for real, Li Bro?‘‘

‘‘Instead of running and spending our energy, not knowing when they will prey upon us, it is a proper solution to wait in ambush for them and conserve strength. Did you not suggest so, junior brother?‘‘

Li Huan nodded along. Her hand did not seem eager to leave the blade alone, ever-remaining on the hilt and clenched tight.

This sight terrified him.

‘‘Why?‘‘ He asked.

‘‘Why what?‘‘ Li Bo replied.

Words stuck on his throat. Nothing came out, nothing pushed up, nothing rose above and declared themselves clear and true. Anything that he thought he could argue with, or ask, or explain; any thought of his and his morals that he could present so that they might understand, or his experience, or this and that and any random word so that he could usher away this conversation all blinked out of his tongue.

Why not? Those behind them were murderous people who tried to murder them once. This place was no territory of some lord or anything, nor property of any beast and tribe. They did no wrong, did they? Why, then, should they not retaliate against them?

He did retaliate against many madmen roaming the Wasteland Of Xian, but they were madmen. Wreaking havoc not out of will but out of broken mind, unaware and unsentient of their doing, husks broken by their cultivation or some other miracle drug they were conned to consume and a monster who could smash the mind to pieces. They, he did fight back. But he did not kill any of them.

It was not that he did not want to fight. He was against killing, even if the other side had the intent to kill.

Was this cowardice? Was he afraid to repeat that disgusting tragedy once more?

‘‘Why...not why,‘‘ Zhang Cai rubbed his neck, scuffling his curly hair hidden by the straw hat. ‘‘What do we do, exactly? How do we deal with them? Why are we just sitting here, even. Do we not make any plans of some sort?‘‘

Under the cover of the hat he peered up at Li Bo. He had his smile, alright, and his narrowed eyes as always. Nothing out of strange. Normal.

‘‘There is no plan to make when fighting. We can not estimate how long they can chase us, or when they will strike upon us. We only know they will chase and strike, because demonics are fiercer than beasts, and hungry for their fellows‘ blood more than any other thing.‘‘

‘‘But they fight simple.‘‘ Li Huan said. She made a chopping motion, smiling silly, eyes sparkling. ‘‘They punch straight and out of form, and if they have weapons, and they don‘t, they swing it slow and wide.‘‘

‘‘The reverse is that they can demolish someone of the same stage in destructive power.‘‘ Li Bo warned. ‘‘One strike of theirs can break five bones of an opponent bearing the same cultivation base. That is why there is nothing to plan. You have the basics learned, and Li Huan mastered. Keep tight and close, be aware of each other's positions, and strike to kill. That is all there is to it.‘‘

Zhang Cai nodded, head a little down, and he acted as if he looked down to the terrain. The flame did not illuminate the ground, but he saw a few rodents hanging around the holes and branches.

‘‘Would it hurt to burn these around a little? To brighten up the surroundings?‘‘ He threw it around, not meaning the thing.

‘‘That would be suicide.‘‘ Li Bo said.

‘‘Xian would come looking for us then.‘‘ Li Huan agreed.

Li Bo added something to the conversation as well, Li Huan replied, and back and forth they talked as they sat relaxed on the thick branch sensing for the enemies. Zhang Cai listened to their soft voice and small laughters, but he did not join. He did not want to join for a while.

He cast another look above, below, left and right, and he saw nothing.

Fuck...fuck...fuck...fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!

This feeling did not feel good. This disgust did not feel good at all.

He sighed, soft enough so the others did not hear, and looked below once more.

He saw cloaked figures looking up at them, fists raised, eyes onyx-black and scarlet, cheeks rosy and bloody, and teeth open like fangs bared at him.

‘‘Li Bro!‘‘ He shouted.

‘‘I know,‘‘ He heard him reply. ‘‘There are some more above us as well.‘‘

Zhang Cai cast a look above, below, left and right, and he saw dozens of cloaked figures staring down at them.