Ah Li released a deep sigh at the rushing calls of the scorpions. He saw Xie’e’s ears prickle like a bunny. It seemed like he, too, picked up the hissings of the scorpions- no worse than the rumbling tide of sand, surging with the force of uncountable horses. Among them one struck him the most: A piercing whistle akin to an arrow’s head.

‘’Benefactor,’’ He called, Xie’e turned to face him. ‘’Neighing with the horse won’t do, you should know that.’’

Xie’e awaited in silence with his gaze on the approaching sandstorm. Though it seemed to be near in his vision, the sandsurge had to cover quite a sizeable land to reach the hill they were on. The size and danger it possessed was no less threatening, nonetheless, but that was what made him stop and consider this idea.

‘’I do,’’ Xie’e said, ‘’But I...would like to take my chance with them.’’

‘’What chance, benefactor?’’ Ah Li asked, seeming to be calming down from the frustration. ‘’Were you of those battle masters in your tribe, seeking death above and below? Do you not know; Cruel Crescent isn’t the time to lust for blood.’’

‘’I’m not from those tribes-’’ Xie’e said, and added, ‘’But it isn’t about...seeking.’’

I only want to make a decision of my own; the first being to see what I can prove to myself.

It seemed not much of an explanation, and indeed, he thought, carelessness on his part. He decided to do things on his own, to not get swept by again by the currents surrounding his life. But what defined- what decided whether he sought things willing to see their end or not? Was it not his choice, but of the others, if he did not seek conflict and it came his way? The rationale covering that train of thought wasn’t something Xie’e understood now. If everything has to result from my decisions, he turned around to look at Ah Li’s merging eyebrows, doesn’t it mean I have to have perfect control over any event of my life?

A perfectionist strategist? Thinking of the description, a smile crept up his face. Wasn’t that what Osbour called Kaiserri?

He was neither of those people, though. He had not the power to swallow mountains, and indeed he had not the wit to scheme against the world; even to his death. He had, in his opinion, no ambition regarding his future. Is it that what I lack?

‘’Benefactor,’’ Ah Li said after seeing him in thought for some time. Xie’e didn’t lose himself in a dreamland of course, his attention still stood over Ah Li and the scenery before them. But having his attention didn’t help the current predicament hounding them. Sandsurge drew near to their site with each second and it did seem to pick up even more speed.

‘’Ah Li,’’ Xie’e said, ‘’Does it matter to you that I pick a fight with them? Your concern extends no longer than your own safety, right?’’

‘’No, it doesn’t, and yes, my health is the priority,’’ Ah Li nodded. ‘’But-’’ He raised one muscular hand and slapped his paralyzed thighs.

‘’When our well-being are tied to each other, those decisions of yours won’t extend beyond your own jurisdiction. It is not you who suffers alone- what you jeopardize is also my own priority as well.’’ His trembling index-finger lurched to the whizzing and hissing shadows of the scorpions; their man-sized black pincers clinked in sync at the show of aggression.

‘’Your situation isn’t a result of my choice, so why should I be responsible for it as well? Is that what you think?’’

‘’That is how a child rationalizes; and I am not one by any means,’’ Xie’e replied. ‘’ And why do we even have this discussion?’’

Ah Li didn’t respond for a few seconds but his finger didn’t trail off either. It stood straight and clear under the light of the moon, trembling all over from the poison still wearing down his body. His face: A large nose competing against his thumb in size, and his lips curled so loose they might not even rise up, gave Xie’e the impression of a confident veteran.

Of what, Ah Li explained right away.

‘’Do you know of the Aura Syndrome, benefactor?’’ Xie’e raised a brow at the question.

‘’Who doesn’t know?’’ Except children- he didn’t add. ‘’What, have you seen that?’’

‘’If I hadn’t, why would I bring it up?’’ Ah Li replied. ‘’But yes, I did. I saw that tunnel, the seven brilliant colors; the gray and black of the space seemed to swallow me whole.’’

‘’You died.’’

‘’I died,’’ Ah Li nodded, his index finger clenched back with the other four to form a fist, and they pounded his broad chest twice to emphasize his words. ‘’You saved me from it, still, but I am a dead man. So I have no worry, no fear of them.’’

Them, Xie’e knew, was those scorpions; now a few hundred meters away their angry hisses alerted them of the little time they had left to escape. ‘’Then it is more of a reason to not stop me.’’

‘’And no-’’ Xie’e cut Ah Li’s words before he spoke. ‘’I don’t confuse fear with desire, Ah Li. You might want to live, still, unafraid of death, but for me I also want to live without fearing death.’’

That is my desire.

‘’Benefactor, you are impatient,’’ Ah Li said after a second of silence. ‘’Did no one tell that to you?’’ His head raised and calm brown pupils reflecting the moonlight, he spoke again.

‘’You have all the time to make choices, whatever they may be. So is it that important to make one choice here to prove yourself than to live a life decided by yourself?’’

Their gazes met each, filled with conviction of their standpoints. The rumbling sandsurge at the back and the moonlight above couldn’t block what they tried to tell; the lifelong experiences of both passed as a glimmer between their eyes, one blue and the other brown. But brown had the brilliant glow of pride, a confidence that Xie’e didn’t have in himself.

Xie’e craned his head down after he glimpsed upon a seven-colored distortion around Ah Li’s eyes. Aura Syndrome...

...did I not die there as well?

‘’I’m tired of lessons,’’ Xie’e said and stepped back. His foot didn’t dive into the sand, yet, but slipped on it like a sledge on snow. There blinked into existence a curved half-sphere, right under his heels, and between him and the mirror Ah Li stood stretched four thick ropes of silver Qi.

‘’Me too, benefactor,’’ Ah Li nodded atop the half-silver half-red Qi mirror. Xie’e looked behind him, his gaze went beyond their position and met the glowing green eyes encased in dark carapace. Instead of eyelids were thorns of black and in the place of an eyebrow were horns curving into a crown of sickles. Nine of them, he counted, and atop other scorpions escaping the cloaking of the sandsurge he saw none alike.

‘’Their king is him?’’ Xie’e asked and stepped forward, pulling the ropes behind him. The moment his foot came down again, his body started sliding down on a path carved in two by the Qi spheres; the mirror followed his lead and picked up speed to descend the sandhill they were on. They lost sight of the scorpions and though the ear-wrecking hisses and clinks of their pincers rang louder, Ah Li still understood who and what he meant.

‘’Yes,’’ He nodded. ‘’They lead packs of twenty or thirty at the minimum, most of them can equal to Third Stage Path Establishers, with some few in Second Stage. The scorpions that one led should be around Qi Destruction and Third Stage Path Finding.’’

Xie’e’s feet came to a halt for an instant, then he started descending down again.

‘’If you told me that I wouldn’t even spout such nonsense!’’ I can’t even beat senior Meng in First Stage Path Establishment!

‘’Well, benefactor,’’ Ah Li showed his lunar-white teeth to grin, ‘’I saw you needed some help more urgent than that.’’

‘’...I’m dropping the ropes.’’

‘’Benefactor!’’

*********

After scaling down the sand hill Xie’e and Ah Li escaped to the direction of where the moon had risen. Their plan was to go to the farthest west as possible; even though their position and fate seemed unpeculiar at the moment, Ah Li informed him of how most towns and tribes settled themselves near the border oases at the time of war to provide manpower and supplies for the Khan’s collective army. If there was any chance they could find a settlement, their chance laid near the conflict zone.

But the sandsurge caught them off-guard, right in the way of their destination. So they could only run back to where they came from.

Before, they considered watching moon’s movement to somehow find their way back to north: Perhaps to stumble on a lone tribe connected to local government or a migrating oasis to follow its lead. But that could lengthen their journey and had the risk of running into the divination tribes’ people; Ah Li seemed very much wary of those particular community that he assumed to be related to Xie’e.

‘’Benefactor, do you remember the pit from an hour ago?’’ Ah Li asked amidst the storm of sand grains shooting past them. In night, Xie’e expected, the winds howled with more ferocity than they did in the day. Were it not for the bursts of hisses and rumbling falls of the collapsing sandhills, Xie’e and Ah Li could appreciate the sound with its own worth.

‘’I do- it shouldn’t be that far right now,’’ Xie’e said. ‘’But weren’t they the home of a serpent, you said? A large one at that?’’

‘’Could be, I said, and actually warned. It wasn’t a statement,’’ Ah Li raised his fine arms to point at their back. ‘’We-...ehm, you put up a little distance with them, yet my gut tells it will close in an instant if something goes awry.’’

‘’That’s common sense-’’

‘’So,’’ Ah Li continued without glancing at Xie’e, ‘’It might be better to delve into the pit and wait for some time to pass.’’

‘’And none will pursue us into it?’’

‘’None. These sandsurges are like the festivals of Shuangguang and Cindersnow; they have a designated start and destination from the start. The distance is hard to cross in a night alone. I doubt they will chase us down.’’

‘’What if they do?’’ Asking questions were important, Xie’e noted in his head. Milking out basic survival knowledge of the desert would have some benefits in the future...or so he thought.

‘’They won’t, benefactor. I’ll swear on my life.’’

‘’You lost that once, Ah Li, how can I trust you?’’

‘’...This humor will get you killed one day.’’

Xie’e didn’t mind the comment and moved on.

The terrain didn’t change much in front of them; the desert was, after all, a lone giant of sand piled left and right at random places. They were once the remains of mountains and hills of real; of riverbeds and dried up streams. Now, their remnants were there for people to stomp and pave their way.

For a considerable amount of time they leaped and ran on the sand, escaping from the reaches of the horde of scorpions hounding at their back. Leaping was more of a requirement than a choice, for sand wouldn’t let go of Xie’e’s feet once he stepped on it. When he encountered small hills, rather than going around he chose to run over them. If they wanted to find the pit, Ah Li reminded the first time he attempted, the road had to stay clear and straight. They had done the same in the day to keep where they went clear.

‘’But the sand piles up with wind and disperses with storm, right?’’ Xie’e argued this time. ‘’We can’t guarantee these hills are the ones we trampled, or the paths we take are the ones we strode in the morning.’’

‘’Wind indeed does affect, but it was no longer than an hour, or even two hours that we passed by these places. For sand to gather up in that time, it would need another sandsurge to pass through and destroy our path.’’ Ah Li said.

Xie’e nodded without asking more. He could indeed say ‘Can we trust that chance?’ or pose other inquiries, but they had no meaning. The answer was the same: they couldn’t, but this is the only way. Or not, Xie’e thought, But air should be no less dangerous than land.

Their path went on and on for some more time. It seemed like the scorpions had too much energy to spare; their cries and hisses ceased for not even a second. Contrary to them, Ah Li was of no use and Xie’e’s feet hinted at their eventual exhaustion; a faint pair of throbbing made itself clear around his ankles and heels. The right foot hurt the most.

But he no longer had to endure the pain. As he pulled Ah Li to scale up a small elevation of sand, he saw the shape of a hole lightened up by moonlight. Even at night, its position was clear to the duo smiling for the faintest of the moments. Xie’e picked up more speed at the sound of hisses drawing near and in a matter of seconds leaped right beside the pit. His descent sent a flurry of sand flowing inside the pit with rustles.

To see the existence of a wide, dark pit in a desert was quite intriguing at first. How come sand never filled it? How did it come to be?

As they glanced down, the first question was answered by the sand-belied earthen rock surrounding the hole. It seemed like the ground of a mine carved in a round circle. It was smooth and, when touched, hard to grasp. Its width, also, bordered near the size of those goliaths Xie’e encountered at Yadratafos. If this was not what made Ah Li suspect of it being the lair of a sand serpent, then it would have to be the invisible depth it went on.

They wasted no time other than admiring for a second and got to work. In reality, Xie’e got to work. He dispersed the mirror upholding Ah Li- who made a grunt at suddenly falling down- and gathered his hands in front of his chest; he cast seals of quick succession that increased the rate he gathered Qi and made his control better. There he wasted another few seconds and rumbles drew nearer from their back. It would take no longer than a minute for sandsurge to reach them. He swallowed his saliva.

With his hand movements Xie’e tightened his head muscles and particles of half-red half-silver Qi shone around his calloused fingers. They gathered and whizzed, their sound low compared to the hounding scorpions’ hisses, and flared into a long hatchet: a woodcutter axe. Xie’e grasped it from the handle and raised up, then swung it down to the side of the hole he looked down.

The ax-head dug into the earth with a bang and a small termor passed through their location. Pieces of the hidden earthen rock fell in the pit with clatters to reveal the gray stone underneath. Now the smooth surface had a crooked and cracked part that he could hold without falling down, so he cast another set of seals and recreated the mirror from before. One hand still carrying the ax, he grasped Ah Li’s raised arm with his other and put him on the now sturdier mirror.

‘’How deep should we go in?’’ Xie’e asked as they drew nearer to the edge.

‘’Their tails are longer than us- even though they won’t chase one might decide to attack for once. Can you cut a few more meters down to hold on?’’

‘’I doubt-’’ Xie’e said. Carrying his own body and Ah Li was quite a burden for his wound ridden tired body. If he was fresh out of training and a session of meditation, he would have no qualms about going as far as fifty or sixty meters and climbing back up. But in this case, it would be too dangerous to trust his body.

‘’Then take the risk, if you wish.’’ Ah Li said and no longer spoke. Xie’e nodded and waved his hand forward. The mirror, now half-silver and half-red, floated above the pit of rock and descended six meters down. Xie’e then followed and leaped down. He didn’t place his leg onto the mirror but kicked the earth around the pit. Though hard, his body had more of a momentum to support it, so the earth broke down and revealed another crooked part of the rock. Then his hand latched onto the first section he broke to stabilize himself.

While Ah Li’s sight was obstructed by Xie’e’s back and arse, Xie’e himself could, to some extent, see the rising clouds of sand from the approaching scorpions. For a more safety measure he ducked his head and still-hunched back low and waited. Seconds passed in a hurry. He was calmer than he expected, though it didn’t affect the eventual outcome.

The hisses passed right above him and instantly, outrageous amounts of sand flowed down to their heads. Like a river they descended into the hole and battered their shoulders and heads and slipped into their clothes. Unprepared, Xie’e let some in his mouth, which he spat in the same moment. The wriggling feeling made him no less disturbed than the actual level of loudness the rumbling reached. Xie’e had heard this intensity only a-presumed- few days ago, when the whole forest ripped apart and fell off into a huge mess.

The sound was followed by the freakish hisses of the scorpions, their clattering feet, the air-crushing pinches of their pincers. Xie’e held his breath in fear of attracting their attention and swallowing more sand; From the sounds of it Ah Li had done it long before him. A fear crept in his heart when among the hisses, one rose higher than others and all movement halted for an instant. The surging sand stopped flowing, the pincers stopped pinching, their carapaced legs ceased stomping. A second passed, then two. Xie’e held his breath and closed his eyes, his hands clutching the broken ledge trembled at the third second.

Idiot! How did I think of taking them out?

One second followed another and the suffocating silence continued. For how long Xie’e couldn’t care less. Are they contesting my breath or something!?

His right hand grasped the edge tighter and his left hand raised the axe to his waist. One movement and I’m going down-

The moment he decided that, the hiss of the presumed king sounded through the air and the invisible pincers pinched in the air again.

Xie’e raised the ax above his head, ready to swing at any threat coming his way, but none came.

The stomps of the carapaced legs boomed in his ears and another surge of sand drooled down the pit onto them. This time none infiltrated his lips, which he was grateful, and the sounds of the scorpions turned fainter. Seconds passed heavier than before with an anticipation in his heart for Xie’e.

Soon the stomps disappeared and the rumbling appeared again, but that, too, faltered after a few seconds of waiting.

‘’Haah,’’ Xie’e let out his breath and looked down. Apart from Ah Li intensely gazing at something on his back, he glimpsed upon the deepness of the pit they stood in.

I- I wonder what there is...

*********

After waiting for half a minute as a precaution, Xie’e climbed out of the pit and pulled Ah Li up after him. They settled down a few steps to the right of the pit to shake off their clothes and limbs; to relax, place their minds in a calm state, and to get rid off all the sand roughening their skin.

Finding the chance, Xie’e let go of the ax; it dropped to the ground with no audible sound and turned faint, then transparent, and then vanished into thin air amidst sparkling particles of Qi. Xie’e cast no glance at it but tidied his robe and stepped forward. Ah Li, right behind him, followed with the same mirror under him floating after each step of his. When he looked back for once, Xie’e noticed, Ah Li had a look that indicated a desire to talk- or question.

But Xie’e had no such intent. His heart, although left with a small number of seconds to calm down, still beat turbulent with anxiousness. Sweat that dripped in the sun’s presence flowed harder than that, all the while boosted by the cold night breeze.

Why can’t I make it? He asked himself, and spat. Taste of sand lingered at the edges of his coarse tongue. Isn’t it a sole, stupid decision?

He was, he realized, still stuck on the matter of decisions. The right to choose what he wanted, and what result he desired, and what path to follow; right after encountering these scorpions twice he failed to do so.

Not climbing further isn’t a choice, but a requirement of the situation. That was how he saw it. Not swinging that ax isn’t a choice, but response to a circumstance. Following that train of thought, nonetheless, did point him to the eventual answer: These two matters, however, are the outcome of my earlier decision.

That is what his rationale said. Choices weren’t always possible. Most of the time, what he thought to be the response of his will, and its result, wouldn’t be the result of another choice. In fate, he assumed, there weren’t times everything done by him would have to be caused by him.

But- it is plain idiocy.

The question he asked himself before the sandsurge reached them: Should I fight with them or should I run, he pondered and decided to run. But decision here didn’t appear out of his will. It stemmed from the guidance of Ah Li, the information provided by him, and the paths he showed. And by paths, it was one sole path. Only running away.

There would be two ways to go, still, with or without his addition. It was a matter of what he picked and what resulted from it. So was it a choice, again, or was it the necessity of the situation that he ran away?

It is all so confusing! Xie’e sighed and increased his pace. For a moment he looked up to see where the moon was. Horrible smile of the crescent gazed down at him and, for a moment, he thought. Why is the moon like this only here? That remained without an answer as he didn’t seek any conversation, so he moved on after determining where he would be walking.

As Ah Li said before, the terrain before them had changed. There were still the same things of course: low altitude sand plains, sandhills, sand mountains, valleys of sand stuck between two sandhills, or rare pieces of once-large boulders still not eroded by the harsh morning wind. Their places weren’t the same, however. His eyes glazed the front; the series of hills he scaled up and slid down to get the pit laid flat, in their stead another range of sandhills rose further away to their right. At his front was a slope of sand still flowing down to fill the gaps of a huge body print. It was the shape of a scorpion carapace, with its lines faintly visible.

Walking before the slope, Xie’e created two halfs-spheres at the bottom of his feet and slid down in a matter of seconds. His arrival brought another surge of sand that filled the gaps, and like that the remain was gone. He frowned for a moment, then two, but didn’t stall longer. The half-spheres vanished into air and he trod forward, Ah Li at his back.

Compared to the minutes long travel time from their chase, it took a full hour to recover their past distance. That was pure estimation, however, for neither he nor Ah Li could know the true span of time.

He scaled hills and slid down slopes of sand, sometimes he took a small rest at the feet of a large boulder to sip on his water; he shared with Ah Li a mouthful as well after learning it would actually help him recover. It could be a lie, Xie’e reminded himself, but either way he felt a small amount of gratitude to the man other than his need for him.

Mentioning need, Ah Li spoke after almost six hours of traveling, where they estimated it would be only a matter of minutes that sun rose again.

‘’Since we didn’t encounter any town or tribe on the way,’’ Ah Li said, ‘’We are either far away from the border, or too close to the border.’’

‘’I suppose the former is better?’’ Xie’e asked.

‘’No, the latter.’’

‘’Why so?’’ Xie’e tilted his head to glance at Ah Li. He kept his pace steady in the meanwhile.

‘’Troops are bound to be near, whom will spare no expense to help us get to a safe place. Even if they are to be the Shuanguang’s skirmish parties, we’ll get through with no danger. It might take a while, only, to get back.’’

‘’What if they drag you out?’’ Xie’e said and halted his steps. ‘’You...can’t leave, after all.’’

‘’...are you really not from those tribes?’’ Ah Li snorted.

‘’Ugh, alright. I don’t care,’’ Xie’e returned to dragging Ah Li forward. ‘’I’ll keep moving and you keep sitting until tomorrow night. Isn’t that what it matters?’’

‘’Yes, benefactor, yes. Thank you for your grace.’’

*********

A few hours into the day, the sun chased the moon all the way to the top of the sky and stuck at its middle, shining glaring beams of light upon the two. Their breaths remained stable the whole journey, extracting the time they hid in the pit of stone last night, but now that Xie’e noticed his stone canteen weighed no heavier than a handful of stone his throat turned quite thirsty, and his breathing rough. An itch traveled up and down, touching his brown and red dyed tongue to reach for the last bits of water. His eyes, too, grazed by more than a dozen times at the rock strapped to his waist, in no more than a few minutes at that.

His body was alerting him, he realized.

Walking on the left side of a striped sand dune, pulling Ah Li behind him, Xie’e cast the man an obvious glance. Ah Li did seem to notice it a moment later; his chin descended from the sky to face his gaze.

‘’Yes, benefactor?’’

Xie’e opened his mouth to inquire about the water problem, to learn if there was anything they- or he- could do about it.

‘’The wa-’’ Yet the moment his voice sounded between, Xie’e’s eyes widened into two pieces of round pearls. ‘’Did you hear that?’’ A sound, he heard, akin to a stomp.

‘’Hear what?’’ Ah Li said, his ears faintly flipped and his eyes narrowed.

‘’It is...a group? I hear breathing as well- no, neighing?’’

‘’Horses!’’ Ah Li muttered; he, too, now heard the noise.

‘’Should we look for them first?’’ Xie’e asked.

‘’No it could be...why do you say first?’’

‘’Because they are coming our way.’’ As he talked, Xie’e turned to his right, to the north, and spread his arms wide in front of them.

‘’How many people?’’ Ah Li asked. ‘’Can you pick that up as well?’’

‘’No, but there should be above f-’’

In the middle of his sentence a gust of wind blew by them; behind it rose grains of sand and sounds followed. A scream they heard, and after that a group of war cries now clearer than ever. Xie’e’s eyes turned into slits, Ah Li followed him right after, and in the same instant he spoke.

‘’Go first! There is only a handful people that declares their arrival.’’

Xie’e nodded and raised his right hand up; Ah Li’s mirror floated a little bit above his head and shot forward at the same time as he did. Though his first step sank into the sand, the second stomped right on it, and the third he placed on air. Fourth and fifth came with no delay and the duo were now up above the sand dune they were on, gazing beyond to the rising cloud of sand surging their way.

The size and density of this storm was in no way near the sandsurge of the late-night, it seemed too little of a threat; and the half-visible silhouettes inside it showed none of the terror the scorpions had.

‘’Above!’’ A shout rose from their front and made it clear what was: ‘’The brat is there! Yihahahahahaha!’’

‘’I can’t decide if his voice is hoarse or too high pitched. How does it even happen?’’ Xie’e asked.

‘’If you also spend half of your life living in pits of insects and fighting against monsters,’’ Ah Li shook his head, ‘’Your voice will be the same. I wonder, actually, how yours isn’t like that. Look,’’ Ah Li raised his index finger and pointed at the irregular cavalry of seven, no longer faint but clear in their sight. ‘’Do you recognize them?’’

‘’I don’t, of course. Should I?’’

‘’...you aren’t from the same tribe?’’

‘’I said I’m not from any tribe!’’ Xie’e grunted and cast his eyes on the bodies of incoming men and women. They had white and yellow mixed robes with sleeves tight around the wrists. They were loose around the chest and belly, to make it comfortable, and their pants had ropes rounded around the ankles to strap it firm- most likely to not let any sand, or in some cases poison, in.

‘’Then what are they here for?’’ Ah Li raised a brow.

‘’Little princeeeeeeeeeee!’’

‘’...’’

‘’...little prince?’’

An arrow whistled forward before any response came in. The head of the arrow scraped by Xie’e’s cheeks and disappeared into the horizon.

‘’Yihehehehehehe! KILL THE DAMN SERPENT!’’

‘’This?’’ Xie’e noticed a streak of liquid flowing down his cheeks, mixed with his blood. He recognized what it was from the texture and the two colors mixed in. ‘’Poison, by the light!’’

‘’By the light?’’ Ah Li repeated what he said before coming back to reality. ‘’Benefactor, watch for their poison and spears. They must belong to the Rebtan Tribe!’’

I don’t know a thing about them!

Xie’e stomped on the air he stood and descended the ground; bundles of sand cascaded down with Ah Li’s mirror.

‘’Benefact-’’ Ah Li could only squeal as he was sent back flying, away from the reaches of another flurry of arrows coming their way.

‘’Good friends, can we not talk out this misunderstanding!?’’ Xie’e shouted at the incoming horsemen, yet his actions didn’t seem to prove his authenticity. A wave of his hand spurred forth a revolving Versatile Barrier- red in color and ferocious in power. The arrows crashed onto the turning crimson surface and lit up in flames. In a mere second they exploded into sharaphnels of metal and rippled the surface of Xie’e’s barrier.

‘’Once I get your corpse in my bed, we will!’’ Was the sole response from one of the bowmen.

Xie’e froze in his spot for an instant.

‘’You’ll have me see nightmares,’’ The group laughed and started climbing up the sand dune with their horses. Unlike Xie’e and his normal steps, at which he sank with each, these giant red horses weren’t hindered a bit by the sand. They stomped left and right with the same momentum and chased towards his place at the top; and three of the riders, halting at the bottom, nocked arrows with...scales at their nock?

I’ll ask about that.

Xie’e placed his right foot back and leaned forward; left arm pushed out and right arm pulled in, he clenched both his arm and leg muscles. At the heels of his feet gathered in a flurry of spheres of red Qi and at the top of his fingertips he created revolving balls of a much denser scarlet. Before him laid the horsemen and horsewomen ready to shoot their arrows and swing their spears upon their mounts.

‘’Burst!’’ Then he flew forward.

The spheres under his feet exploded into storms of red, of blood and of a harsh gust, and with it he appeared right before the first mounted woman with her spear upfront. He saw, at first, an insane lust for blood in her eyes. But in the same instant, at his flickering figure that disappeared with a deafening explosion of sand and Qi, the look changed into one of severe wariness.

Xie’e stretched out his right fist and with tightened muscles punched right below the shaft of the spear, aiming to knock her off the horse; and knock her down it did.

But soon his eyes widened in terror.

Before the head of her spear could fall on him, his fist punctured her belly and dyed his whole fist red, then her stomach, and at last the blood shot out in a fountain that dyed everything below her.

‘’...huh?’’ He muttered as she fell off her horse and tumbled down towards her comrades. Her horse, now below the mid-air Xie’e, neither escaped nor went into insanity. Xie’e noticed the abnormality and didn’t extend his mercy that he spared for the group, all the while his heart in tumultuous waves. His feet shot forward as well and crashed onto the skull of the red horse.

The horse raised its head in response and smashed its skull onto his feet. An unstoppable surge of power traveled through the head to his feet and Xie’e found himself rolling on top of the horse’s back; his sore feet now in greater pain and right after facing the raised hind-legs of the horse.

Hah!

Xie’e let out a grunt in pain and swung his left hand towards the kicking legs. The small spheres of reds on the tip of his fingers flashed scarlet for a moment, then expanded dozens of times in the same second. It was another type of Versatile Barrier, but instead of protecting him it pushed against the ferocious strength of the horse with a reverse revolution.

The legs and the several barriers collided with each other; a storm of Qi rushed out of the point of contact. It whirled and revolved around Xie’e, and sent him flying back to the other members of the small group; all incensed yet calmer than before. Experts, Xie’e noted- and felt his heart turn dreary- but rash. If not, his previous strike wouldn’t have claimed a life. He thought of the sensation for a moment and a faint excitement burst off as an emotion.

But this wasn’t the time for thinking. As his body flipped in the air, wide and open to attacks, three arrows flew his way. He saw the grey metallic heads and the two-colored liquid at their tip- the poison of weariness, he called it. Then of the other three wielding spears, two spread open and circled him, the last thrust his spear towards his open back.

Then everything happened at once. Xie’e flipped on the air one more time, the spear avoided his back with mere millimeters, and his right fist punched out towards the head of the spear-wielder. The man let go of his other hand from the reins and matched his fist one of his own. The arrows streaked down towards him from above and the two men circling rushed forward from two sides.

Right before two fists collided, and when the arrows were centimeters away, Xie’e suddenly opened his fingers wide and caught the spear-wielder’s fist. The man’s eyes opened wide for a moment and he raised his spear again- yet he couldn’t thrust before his body rose into the air.

A ball of Qi materialized and burst off under Xie’e’s spine in the same instant. With the momentum he pulled the man off his mount and flipped once more; the man’s body followed his direction and flicked in the air. The arrows descended and the man screamed- they pierced through his back with half the shafts in. Blood gushed over Xie’e.

The other two riders with their spears didn’t flinch at the sight. Their spears stable and horses calm and collected, they stabbed their colorful spears forth. Xie’e threw the man in his arms to the three nocking their arrows down below, and landed on the slope of the sand dune. My arm- ugh! He could only grunt before the flurry of attacks followed.

‘’Surround, gather the blood!’’ Someone from below called out and the two riders pulled back their strikes. Even the now-ownerless two horses obeyed, albeit with neighs and fervor.

‘’Blood?’’ Xie’e looked around and indeed, the bodies of the woman and the spear-wielding man dyed the sand dune a tinge of scarlet; and also dripping from his nose was the mix of their and his blood. From the top of the sand dune, Ah Li’s shout resounded.

‘’Get away from the blood!’’

Xie’e obliged without questioning. Enduring the pain in his again-wounded legs with a scream of his own, he burst two balls of Qi under his heels. Explosion blew all the sand away and his ears rang from the explosion; but now he was in the air, back upon the dune, and able to see what the leftover five were doing.

‘’Killing the horses?’’

One of the spear-wielding men ran back to the bottom, raised his spear, and cut through the head of the first horse, then the other’s. Horses toppled in their places and stomped and screamed, then fell with silent thuds. While their blood flooded the ground, among the bow users, a woman put her hands together and started gathering Qi in enormous amounts.

She is also crippled?

He couldn’t sense any Qi from her, yet she could do the same?

‘’Which tribe are you from, brat?’’ The same woman asked. For a moment, Xie’e thought, the woman seemed to be wary of him. Or of that tribe Ah Li and these people presumed him to be a member of. But in the following moment, he thought of Senior Heshang’s teachings; and now he interpreted that wariness towards himself, about what he might do as she cast whatever she was trying at the moment.

‘’Hah!’’ So he didn’t respond, nor did he let them stall for time. With a shout, he gathered two balls of Qi in front of his hands, matching in magnitude to the woman’s spell, and hurled them towards the group. His body started falling to the ground as the balls expanded in the air; around them sprouted spikes with tips as sharp as a spear. Now blood leaked from his ears.

‘’By ancestors!’’ The woman clenched both her hands and the Qi she gathered condensed in front of her- the other four moved forward to protect her.

Spear-wielders raised their spears and spurred forth, raising sand behind them as a cover. The remaining two men shot their fresh-nocked arrows to him behind the levitating sand clouds.

Xie’e understood: these people knew what he was capable of as well. Since they had someone like him at their side, it was understandable. Even though he sent them forth already, he had to exert some amount of control over the Qi balls to hold their shape; with at least half of his focus spent on those two, how could he evade the arrows without sacrificing his strike?

At least, Xie’e smiled, that was their estimate.

The moment two arrows whizzed from the sand cover and appeared above the spearmen, Xie’e’s head muscles tightened to the point of creating wrinkles. Qi balls, now a few meters away from the arrows, suddenly changed ways.

Like opposite poles attracting each other, balls of Qi shot forth towards each other, seemingly about to self-destruct to get rid of the arrows. Spearmen glared at the sight and picked up speed to climb the slope, yet the moment they decided that the balls of Qi changed directions.

No sparks, no explosion. The spikes around the balls contacted each other, then bounced away. Pushing away the other like two same poles, balls of Qi spiked in momentum again and smashed onto the lower shafts of the arrows. A crack and a whizz later the arrows broke and lost their force; they fell on the sand while the red Qi balls surged forward.

‘’Small completion!?’’ The sand cloud dispersing behind the spearmen parted ways in front of the strike and revealed the trio, shocked for a moment. Though their attack had failed, none of them were unprepared for it. The two bowmen spurred their horses and, with the gauntlets around their hands to protect from self-harm, punched towards the Qi balls.

Xie’e let out a frustrated sigh at the sight and wiped the blood dripping off his eyes.

*********

Ah Li stood atop the sand dune, sitting on the still-existing mirror. His eyes glanced back and forth between the clashing forces; their lacking punches, the incapability of foresight among the two sides, inability to ponder upon a simple tactic, idiocy of not using the terrain, foolishness of not taking him hostage, not using their mobility to take over Xie’e...

Novices, Ah Li sighed. Benefactor, even more so. From what he could distinguish, his benefactor had some kind of a reservation after claiming the first life. He knows what he should do, but doesn’t anyway. The enemy, Ah Li gnashed his teeth thinking, were more of an imbecile.

As he watched two bowmen trying to destroy the Versatile Barriers with their proficient hands, he felt wrath overcome other emotions in his heart.

My company wouldn’t have lost to them!

Following his thought, the Versatile Barrier’ spikes prickled open the bowmen’s gauntlets- one managed to divert it safely: to the path of the other. Two balls exploded in the face of the bowman and his head blew to smithereens of blood and brain. Ah Li’s expression loosened, for this affirmed his view more than before. Followers, he concluded, but the one that got me and her should be one of the Gurus.

...should I have them make this faster? If that Guru was around and well, they would be in quite a big trouble.

Then I’ll force his hand to finish it quick, and if not, I’ll act.

*********

‘’Benefactor, don’t let the bowmen circle you!’’

Xie’e glared at his enemies when he heard the shout. His eyes in blood widened and he noticed the enemy doing the same; then moving back. The last, and safe, bowmen gripped the reins of his horse and started rushing around him.

‘’You go nowhere!’’ Xie’e willed again, his head rippled with an ache, and right in front of his forehead emerged an unshaped hexagon. It was an empty foundation, waiting to be filled with Qi; and fill it with Qi Xie’e did. The Qi around him materialized into a dozens of meters large scarlet whirlwind. It rippled and whirled, a horrible shriek emerged from the center: His own voice, and it came out for his forehead started to scorch red from the flames pooling into the hexagonal Qi crystal.

I forgot! Qi had different attributes, specialities, and ways to take care; and Qi with different attributes had their own styles of affecting the environment they were in. Compressing water and wood Qi, he realized, was bound to be much easier than compressing Fire Qi.

The two spearmen hadn’t stopped all this while, spending the few seconds between the occuring events to climb up the slope leading Xie’e. Now they were at most ten meters away, with their spears ready to thrust and slash at any given moment. The hooves of their horses stomped on the sand to create a cloud of sand akin to the one before, and with it bearing on him did Xie’e realize the enemy was beside his face.

He didn’t hesitate for a moment and cut off his connection with the mirror. He faintly felt Ah Li moving on it right before he fell, followed by a cursing that sounded silent from all the noise around him. But he didn’t care about it; for the moment he severed that link the Qi storm rounding his body grew in size again.

Then all blood on him evaporated.

‘’HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH’’

*********

A terrible howl escaped from the whirlwind that even stirred these blood lusting warriors of the Rebtan tribe, those that experienced the hardest of trials and fiercest of the tortures.

‘’Get his head!’’ The voice of their compatriot reached the spearmen, ignoring all the noises from the ravaging storm and deafening stomps.

‘’Hah!’’

‘’Yiah!’’

Two spears retracted back in front of the storm, horses’ heads centimeters away from the cascading sand and wheezing scarlet Qi, yet there and then they shot forward. The speartips glared with the light of the sun and penetrated the storm with no difficulty; two huge gaps blinked at them for a moment as they rushed forth, then blinked again to close. Yet with two blinks of an eye, terror dawned on them for the first time in their fight.

‘’Sshhhh!’’ One of the spearmen suddenly let go of his spear, flung it to the ground, and tried to take a deep breath. It was hot, the air and his spear, unbearable in temperature; and the moment he inhaled a gust of air he felt his lungs turn into a field of burning thorns. ‘’Haaaaaaa!’’

The other man, clearly better than his fellow warrior, still held onto the shaft of his black spear, eyeing the monstrous man he aimed a moment ago. He saw their enemy’s skin turn red from the heat, and his forehead black from a flame blazing throughout the storm’s range. Tendrils of materializing Fire Qi flowed down to gather around the violent force of nature; and around this flame rose the breaths of their opponent in the shape of a thick creamy steam.

‘’Hah!’’ But he didn’t stop. Though he halted for a second, though he felt a fear that reminded him of his mentor, of those monsters in pits, he still moved forward. He was raised in terror, what did this count as?

Head of his spear rose into the air in an erratic line and his arm muscles tensed up for a moment; they, too, now felt the unbearable heat. Yet again, this wasn’t something that could stop him.

The enemy cast him a short glance between the quick succession of events, one that he noticed to be filled with fear, and two drops of water that evaporated as soon as they came out.

‘’Why, again-’’ The enemy whimpered, his spear fell, then scarlet light exploded. His sight went full red, his arms rippled as if they would rip off and blow away, and in his torso he felt something roasting his chest hair; then he heard a terrible shriek blasting in his ears, followed by the smell of burnt flesh. Yet a second later, everything stopped.

‘’...ah?’’ His vision came back in the form of hundreds of different parts first, then every inch of his body turned numb. In all different visions he had, he saw an empty black road; filled with a seven colored glow that led to somewhere invisible.

Aura...

So he blinked once, then his body was gone.

*********

‘’Does he think he is a Path Opener?’’ Ah Li cast a long, curious glance at the rising storm of red. Scarlet Qi brimmed with violence and a furious strength under it; revolving round and round it expanded layer by layer, and then it exploded into a shower of arrows scorching even the sand. A blaze spread from the center of the storm, its color dark crimson, and bringing down a huge, hexagonal crystal it burst off with a ear-battering sound.

The scent of ashen flesh traveled all the way to his nostrils. Ah Li sniffed twice, then with his moving legs he kicked off the sand dune. Not much remained of the sand, excepting the part he stood by, and now with the physical might of his tempered legs the last piece of the dune blasted away with the wind.

In mid-air he clenched his hands; his Qi flowed fine and his legs were no longer sore and numb. The assailers might have been all body but no spirit.

Gliding downwards to the woman that finished casting her spell, Ah Li relaxed his fist and frowned.

‘’Damn it!’’ The woman clasped her hands together at his sight, and the bowman let out a shriek. ‘’Damn you and your ancestors! And your imperial father!’’

‘’Lunatic is a lunatic everywhere,’’ Ah Li responded back. His Qi flowed within his meridians, turned into a raging river, revolved thrice in a single instant; and then it escaped through his pores as a mist to round every inch of his body ‘’Stop licking the sand for water, trash.’’

The bowman retreated further, his bow down in defeat and his horse ready to depart. The woman, however, persisted with her efforts and raised her shredded arms towards Ah Li. ‘’You might have survived because of that boy, but now I’ll see you dead with my own eyes!’’

‘’Hm?’’ Ah Li raised both brows this time and the mist around his chest suddenly hardened. It circled him round and round like his Qi flow until it took the shape of a metal armor; encased in golden-red chestplate and a helmet adorned with nine horns as a ceremonial touch. Then he descended with his legs pointed down.

‘’Haah!’’ The woman pushed up, the blood on the ground rose with her. Bloods of the three horses, one still alive and running, and of their three friends shot up like arrows and streaked across the air towards him, hounding after his back with a brilliant glow.

‘’The storm is dispersing?’’ Ah Li didn’t mind the strike. Instead, his gaze followed the storm shrinking in size and decreasing in temperature; its end seemed near. If I had my glaive, it would be easier.

‘’But well!’’ He inhaled and let out a deep sigh. ‘’I’ll see about that.’’

The arrows appeared all around him and befell.

*********

Bowman retreated at least two hundred meters in a few seconds, and now considerably away from the fiendish little prince his fear lessened enough to allow his head crane backwards. He saw, at the same moment his head revolved sideways, a current of red lights gathering at the sky, right above the scarlet storm substituting after its initial expansion. His body shivered; the sensation of the scorching wind and the scene of sand turning to ash remained fresh in his mind.

But now away from there, he thought, and spurring farther to where their mentor resided at full speed, he would be safe and sound; and it made him regain that bit of confidence that came, naturally, from his blood of Rebtan. He might have not shown it on the field, but he showed it right here, by escaping at the right moment rather than dying in vain, to uphold a quest more important than confronting an enemy of much higher power: to alert those who could take care of it.

Feeling satisfied and more at ease, he paid little attention to the road in his front and watched the arrows of blood dye the sky crimson. The hue cloaked the golden sun behind it, and its brilliance made him gasp even from this far. If he was any closer, would his eyes still be fine? That he had no answer, and he didn’t wish for one.

Blame is on them for not being prudent, and not me, He reminded, and right as his head rotated back to its place his eyes widened.

A flash gleamed in the air, and in his eyes; a dark crimson it shone and appeared centimeters before his eyebrows.

‘’Succulent ancestors!-’’ It was an arrow made of blood, thin at shaft and sharp on the head, and with how fast it came he didn’t even think of escaping.

It brushed past the air around it and struck on his right eyebrow; the head slid and shaft followed, and then it came out from the back of his head with pieces of his brain.

...aaah-

*********

Ah Li raised his foot from the bashed piece of skull and turned back to face the dwindling storm of Qi. The scarlet turned to a faint red hue flickering between his irises, and from inside he saw a body standing straight and strong; before this point, Ah Li had never seen Xie’e with his back this straight. And with his eyes closed there, Ah Li thought Xie’e to be still in the shock of his strike. No man or woman’s body could take that much Fire Qi and stay healthy or hydrated. Or mind, as far as he knew.

And indeed, from the little gap in the now almost transparent storm, he glanced upon Xie’e’s skin tightening around his muscles and bones- the lines and curves of his body were all traceable. And under the white streams of smoke the skin had started cracking and drying.

Ah Li had the thought of inspecting these people’s bodies for water for Xie'e, and for a Sun Calculator for them to go on, but the whisper of I need to stay prudent against him had him stop for a moment. Though he was incapitated and helpless against this benefactor of his some hours ago, and he seemed to be fine with facing danger without getting rid of him, who could say his thoughts were different?

The doubt expanded with the scene of their first meeting, and his benefactor’s open intentions. Now they weren’t so much clear, even clouded. After all, even if Xie'e had doubts about the locations he gave, following the same path by tracking the moon and the sun was easy. Definitely, he was capable of something so simple.

Then was it because of his tribe? In that case, he would be ignorant of the world outside and would need help to progress; to get his citizen token and rank mark branded was bound to be a troublesome thing with a background like that. And the dangers of the desert, he did not seem to be aware of them, too. That was also the case for the young members of the Diviner Tribes, ignorant of what the world held for them, and following this train of thought Ah Li felt that could be the most certain case.

He needed Ah Li. And Ah Li needed him, too, not long ago.

But he didn’t have to depend on him right now, right?

He would do the same if the reverse happened- Ah Li thought, -and if he knew of me and my family, he might have done something worse...my family?

As his thoughts came to a halt, Ah Li took a step forward and looked towards Xie’e. He had heard what they called him, he remembered.

It is all the fault of this family!

A miniscule brown light flickered beneath the heels of his boots, then Ah Li disappeared from the sight. He appeared right before Xie’e inside the storm, his palm open and ready to land on Xie’e’s burning chest.

Xie’e’s eyes opened wide, and Ah Li gritted his teeth. The storm around them blinked once, Ah Li’s palm landed, and the storm snuffed out.

Xie’e let out a heavy grunt.