Author’s Note: Sorry for lack of updates. My friend was supposed to update for me when I was gone. She messed up; lol. Anyways, I'm back from the woods. Pooped in a bag and hole. Learned a lot. As always, thanks for reading.

Tell me if you think this chapter was well-planned or somewhat BS. I don’t think it is, but who knows.

Jang-Guo stepped forward. He held his hands up and commanded Ten Suns to rest upon the snow.

Without facing the others, he said to the tiger twins, “Can’t you spare me and my sister? As a favor, twin to twin? I’ll do anything.”

“Ge-ge, what are you saying?” Meili shouted with gaping mouth. She walked one step forward, but felt a smothering expulsion of killing intent from Jang-Guo. The younger sister took a few hurried steps backwards, almost stumbling over her long white hair. “Are you crazy?”

Cai clenched his hands and glanced at Meili. She trembled and tears formed. Senior Sha stared at his stump, then looked at Jang-Guo with wide eyes and lips which struggled to take definite shape. Qiu’yue went over to Meili’s side and thought of how things turned out like this. With furrowed brows, she stroked Meili’s back.

“Well, boss only said the girl was the most important target. Right, brother?” One of them said and rubbed his chin.

“Wait a minute, brother. This could simply be a trap.”

Jang-Guo snorted and yelped. Instantly, Ten Suns bursted from the snow and shot backwards at Qiu’yue. Gasping at the miniature sun charging for her head, Qiu’yue flicked her wrist and Quiet Thoughts stormed forward to meet the challenge.

Ten Suns carved a fiery path through the land, two surfs of snow on both sides evaporating into mist. A conjuration of ten suns emerged in the smoldering aftermath. These ten suns converged into one, linked up like lodestones, coursing like a golden dragon with the saber as its impeccable killing horn.

Quiet Thoughts streaked forward, her thin blade a mirage of silver butterflies intertwined with — sipping on — the flurry of snow petals flourished from the sword’s whirlwind of cuts. The blinding whiteness condensed into a single bulbous cage — anticipating of spring, contained an ocean of stars helmed by resplendent needle.

“Run!” Qiu’yue shouted and punched the air in front of her, delivering the final stretch of the joust.

Similarly, Jang-Guo rammed the space in front of him, throwing his waist like a lurching dragon.

The gilded dragon smashed the bulb of swirling snow; a glaring cleave of light accompanied the sundering of the pastel sky. The cracking of whips echoed the chilled air — like thunder before the flash of steel bolts. Then, a brief silence: the cumulation of a collective held breath, followed by the sharp intake of desperate air as reality hammered on.

Everything was blasted away. Though, if a passing farmer on his water ox or a carpenter on his way to haggle his wares saw the scene from afar, he would think, “Ah, what a beautiful light. The divines and faeries must be dancing and drinking — while we freeze in the cold. How cruel!”

At first, neither sides knew what exactly happened. The explosion began like the flickering ember of a paper lantern, a slight, simmering meniscus of light upon the shallow horizon. But the ember flared and it consumed, devoured, ravaged with the voracity of the dead — that faint flickering spark bloated up, and it floated heavenly upwards by the pocket of currents it produced. Reaching the zenith, the growing flare blossomed: casting golden shadows over the pale blue snow as light slashed at everyone’s eyes, before everything ruptured and fell with a deafening howl after the silence of false calm. The roar of dragons and demons flooded everyone’s ears. Thick billows of smoke, snow, and sparks lunged out like fleeing frogs and rabbits as the bulb of snow crumpled from the entanglement of beastial warlords. These refugees of the disaster, expunged in such quantity and mass, conquered the sky, before falling like a tsunami wave — crashing onto the pursuers, blinding them and choking them with the ill residue of ash and dust.

A black scourge remained at ground zero, a watery halo around the terrible epicenter.

The children were gone — save for the lingering trace of the qi used to escape. Jang-Guo

coughed and fanned his eyes from the pungent fumes released by the massive collision of two fantastical swords. The twin tigers grunted and swung their halberds to clear the smoke. One of them grabbed Jang-Guo by the collar and breathed onto his face.

“Brat! You think we won’t kill you? You think we won’t make sure your pretty little sister get sold to

some fat, old merchant? Hell, you think we don’t have a child lover in our ranks, boy?” He hollered as indigo veins popped on his neck, almost like chains squeezing him, causing him to lose breath.

Jang-Guo clambered onto one of the twin’s legs with one of his arms. The other one was in perpetual oscillation due to the drastic use of Ten Suns. With tears streamed down his face, he cried, “Please don’t! As a twin, you also understand, right? Protecting your other half is the most important thing in life! I didn’t cause that explosion on purpose. Please, don’t sell Meili to a sexual deviant! Please!”

“You’re saying you didn’t cause what was basically a smoke bomb and an explosion on purpose?”

The other twin laughed, then scowled. He slammed the flat side of his halberd onto Jang-Guo’s back, causing him to spit blood. “Do you think I was born yesterday, brat?”

“I didn’t! I didn’t! You saw I poured all my strength into that blow — how can you think I planned that explosion? That explosion nearly killed all of us! Why would I do that at risk of my little sister? That magical saber of mine was a gift; I honestly don’t know all its properties or capabilities,” Jang-Guo protested and wiped the blood from his mouth. He pounded his chest. “I, Tang Jang-Guo, am a very honest and righteous man! I only want to protect my sister; please, don’t sell her into the sex business.”

“A righteous man who betrayed his friends,” the twins clucked their tongues. “Hmph, then are you willing to die to guarantee your sister’s purity?”

“I am,” Jang-Guo responded with flinching from the two brothers’ cold halberd covered in a thin layer of snow. He stared into the blackened depths of the twins’ eyes, even pressing his neck deeper into the teeth of the halberds. “There is nothing I won’t do if it keeps my sister safe. You two understand that same bond, right? It’s stronger than your loyalty to your boss, right?”

The three shared a look. The twins pulled their halberds from the boy’s neck. Jang-Guo stood up, only to receive a double kick to his chest. Cushioned by the snow, Jang-Guo felt only a slight inflammation near his chest.

“We do not trust you with your sword,” one of them growled.

“I am not a swordsman,” Jang-Guo responded with a scowl.

“Regardless, me and my brother will retain possession of the sword — and your life,” the other twin said quietly. The two tiger brothers marched over to the gleaming gold blade at the center of the blacken scourge. Jang-Guo staggered behind his superiors.

“Where did the other blade go?” One of them asked, picking up Ten Suns from the scorched earth.

Then, he inspected the saber with his sharp, diamond eyes. “And doesn’t this sword of yours look different than before?”

“Maybe, the explosion completely destroyed Qiu’yue’s sword,” Jang-Guo offered after scanning the extent of the explosion. “The explosion was pretty bad. Or she could have retrieved it immediately after the strike — it’s thin enough to cut through the air unlike my saber. And my sword always looked like that.”

“Where are its serrated teeth, boy?” The man thrusted the sword out in front of Jang-Guo’s eyes. “And what’s with the silver fuller?”

“I don’t know what you mean. It’s always looked like that,” Jang-Guo asserted, scrunching up his face. “Do you think I, Tang Jang-Guo, am a liar?”

“No, we think you are bald, both up here and down there,” the twins spat in unision. “Let’s keep moving. They’re exhausted and are children. They’re probably not far ahead.”

“You’ll definitely not harm my sister, right?” Jang-Guo asked. He received two grunts. Grunting himself, the bald boy stumbled in line behind the two twins.

The trio raced toward the naked forest dressed in powder snow off in the distance, laid sparse with evergreens puncture through earth high above. Behind the forest were mountains — and a city carved into it, from it, and out of it, stretched across base to apex, coiled as if a copper serpent around a diamond. Even at the fast speeds possessed by cultivators, it took the trio a little over an incense of time to reach the forest entrance. Partly due to the cumbersome sword one of the twins had to hold, impeding his movement. But also partly to reserve qi so as not to be caught off guard in case Black Pearl Sect members were in the forest. And also for the significant factor that their targets were only at the condensation stage — so as long as the tigers were a bit faster, prey cannot escape.

“How are you going to fight while holding my sword?” Jang-Guo asked, pointing with his one able hand.

“Hmph, as if we need full strength against brats still wet around their lips,” the twin holding the twin sneered. “And my name is Zhima Shi, so address me by it.”

“My name is Zhima Bao.” The other twin added.

“Does it mean —” Jang-Guo began before being met with a terrifying glare.

“Yes, it means sesame bread. When the boss picked us up, he was hungry, ok?” Zhima Bao growled. Then he said quietly, “I think it’s a good name, because the boss gave it to us.”

“What about your boss?” Jang-Guo asked as they waded through the thick snow piled up in the forest. With every movement of the wind, some snow stuck in the branches fell like rain, causing

everyone to brush away at the annoyance with a slight frown.

“Boss is boss. That’s all you need to know,” Zhima Shi answered. “Hmm, they’re masking their qi pretty well despite being children. Still, that doesn’t matter since they’re going toward Black Pearl Sect — if they move in one direction, they have no place to hide.”

“But it certainly is impressive the level of qi control they possess,” Zhima Bao remarked.

“Of course, my sister is a genius,” Jang-Guo smiled and puffed his chest out. “That’s why I’ll protect her; she’s my treasure.”

Hearing that fierce declaration, the tiger twins eased up slightly. Instead of checking up on the boy every 3 steps, they checked him every 5, then 10.

“They’re near.” Zhima Shi pointed in front with Ten Suns. “Brother, I’ll give chase. You wait here with the boy.”

Speeding forth with a twisted smile, Zhima Shi arrived at a small clearing. Off in the distance was the mountain path to Black Pearl Sect on the horizon. However, the four pinpoints of qi felt suddenly condensed into one — coming straight at him from above.

Zhima Shi smiled as the qi advanced onto him. How preposterous! Without even moving, he released his qi like a tiger’s roar: he was the king of beasts. How can a child at the condensation stage overcome the soul-severance stage? His qi was denser, thicker, of higher quality — refined, even visible to the naked eye. The child’s pitiful droplet of qi would simply be devoured by his virile

roar.

That was what was suppose to happen. But it didn’t. As Zhima Shi’s roar of qi jolted toward the child, he felt that singular qi point split into two again. One was thrusted toward the ground away from the onslaught of qi; the other one seemingly blinked across the surging wave of qi — entering Zhima Shi’s personal sphere.

Recognizing the force as a possible threat, Zhima Shi dropped Ten Suns to better wield his halberd. He swung his blade, but missed Cai’s head by a slight margin. The mercenary’s muscle memory did not factor in the fact that Cai has not hit his growth spurt yet — where a normal adult’s chest was, Cai’s head barely reached that. Instantly, Cai took hold of the dropped sword and dashed away.

“Shit,” the mercenary yelled and immediately gave chase. Cai was not running to the mountains but deeper into the forest. Zhima Shi carefully sent his qi out to scout the situation. The odd movements of qi from before worried him, where four became one then two. “They aren’t actually trying to fight, are they?”

Catching up to Cai, Zhima Shi swung his halberd at his legs in a wide arc. Instead of dodging to the side, Cai twisted his body and jumped. Suddenly, the boy’s queue struck Zhima Shi’s nose, followed by the boy using the older man’s head as a launch pad.

In mid-flight, Cai screamed as Zhima Shi caught hold of his ankle. The tiger mercenary threw the boy onto the ground. The snow cushioned Cai’s fall slightly. With skilled movements, Zhima Shi drew his halberd down onto the vulnerable boy’s waist. Cai blocked with the golden saber.

Though, the halberd was successfully blocked — Zhima Shi even moving back to stabilize his stance — Cai felt the full impact of the strike. The saber may be as still as a pond, but Cai’s arms trembled like church bells.His bones were numbed to their marrow.

“Damn sword,” Zhima Shi cursed. He placed his halberd on Cai’s neck. “Call out your other friends. Oi, brats, your friend’s going to get eaten! Aren’t you going to save him? Cold friends, you have, brat.”

“They’re all gone by now,” Cai laughed with coughs mixed in. “Don’t you find it odd how the qi points were moving? Four becoming one becoming two? You stupid oaf!”

The mercenary stomped Cai’s left thigh, grinding on it. Cai’s face contorted as voiceless howls came from him. Foam gathered round his mouth as his eyes tightened in pain. Arching his back, his other leg twitched uncontrollably.

“Shit, guess I’ll go report to brother,” Zhima Shi groaned and reached to grab Cai. “Going to be a pain to sneak into the Black Pearl Sect’s festival.”

As Zhima Shi leaned to take hold of Cai’s collar, he sensed qi erupt behind him. Cai smirked and shouted, “Now!”

Ten Suns exploded in a burst of light, and Quiet Thoughts shot forward. Honed by death, the mercenary was not so easy to be surprised. He lifted his halberd to block the incoming projectile.

His weapon was easily shattered. Eyes widening, he jerked his head sideways. Screaming, Zhima Shi swung his headless halberd at Cai like a broom. Quiet Thoughts sliced the rest of the staff into pieces. The blade positioned itself onto the mercenary’s neck.

Qiu’yue stepped out from behind a tree. She swallowed her anxiety and walked until ten steps separated him from her.

“I am going to retrieve my friend,” Qiu’yue said loudly. “Please, don’t move. I don’t want to kill you.”

“Kill me?” The tiger mercenary laughed. He clenched his hand around Quiet Thoughts and squeezed. No blood spilled. “My hands have hardened that a blade with no skilled master cannot harm me. And that shit you brats pulled with the explosion required a lot of qi, right? I’m going to kill this brat here. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“You know, people who say that usually die,” a voice commented cheerfully from above.

Without giving Zhima Shi a chance to turn his head upwards, Gai’zhi snapped his fingers. The snow gained life and wrapped around Zhima Shi like scales, became ice and punctured through his qi barrier past skin into flesh. The snow became spikes and ice ruptured the man’s back from the inside.

Zhima Shi gave a final gasp, dilated pupils faced down at the innumerable protrusions from his chest. Wordless, the mercenary collapsed onto his knees as the spikes overtook him, grown ice flowers thick with thorns over his carcass.

Gai’zhi jumped down from his perch and hurried toward the two children.

“I’m surprised you retained consciousness,” Gai’zhi laughed as he pulled a talisman from his sleeves. He placed it over Cai’s leg. “This will relieve some of your pain by cutting off your senses. Still, we must hurry — it would be problematic if frostbite sets in.”

“Senior Brother Gai’zhi, your plan worked,” Cai said weakly with a slight chuckle.

Qiu’yue frowned and flicked snow onto Cai’s face. Pouting, she turned to Gai’zhi, “If Cai has to cut off his leg, I’ll come after you. Cai’s actually an idiot who doesn’t know how to take care of himself!”

“What are you saying,” Cai complained as his breathing slowed. “Is the sky spinning for anyone else? I think I’m going to sleep for a while.”

Qiu’yue slapped Cai. “No! If you sleep, you die.” Then she turned to Gai’zhi, “Shouldn’t the others be back by now?”

“If it went according to plan, yes,” Gai’zhi replied with a shrug and an apologetic smile. He turned to the others’ general direction and flapped his sleeves. Talismans flew out, becoming yellow birds, and flew away. “It’s going to be fine. I promised you guys, right?”

Qiu’yue furrowed her brows and hugged Cai who was drifting in and out of consciousness. She yelled at Gai’zhi, “Come help me warm up Cai!”

Snuggled between two people, Qiu’yue waited for the plan to complete itself. She thought deeply about whether there was anything overlooked in Gai’zhi’s plans and of their frantic escape only mere moments before from their fierce hunters.

After the explosion, the four children had escaped into the forest. Each of them was wracked with indecision regarding Jang-Guo.

“Cai, what should we do?” Meili asked, crying. Seeing her big sister cry, Qiu’yue stroked her back. She too looked at Cai. “That idiot brother of mine! Risking his own life...Ge-ge…”

Cai bit his lips and glanced at Senior Sha. Senior Sha gestured for Cai’s thoughts.

“It’s too dangerous to go back and help,” Cai concluded with a bitter look. Everyone reacted with surprise.

“Junior Brother Cai, you can’t be suggesting we leave him to die? Sooner or later, they’ll realize

Jang-Guo’s act and kill him. Even if they don’t, he’ll still be sold into slavery,” Senior Sha shouted and flapped his one arm.

“You think I don’t realize that?” Cai screamed back. “And Senior Brother Sha — who are you to act like Buddha?”

“Everyone shut up!” Qiu’yue cried. She turned to Cai. “We’re saving Tang-ge! We have to; he’s family.”

“But we can’t. We’ll die.” Qiu’yue chest tightened when she saw Cai’s tears. Covering his eyes, he continued his argument. “He knew we won’t be able to fight them — so, so he...Let’s not waste his effort by being idiots and go back! If we can save him, I would have been the first one into the tiger’s den.”

“No,” Qiu’yue stopped running and stomped her feet. “We have to find a way. There has to be a way. Big Sister Meili, isn’t fighting higher level cultivators the number one strength of the external school?”

Meili stopped running. Closing her eyes to hold back tears, she knelt on the ground.

“You guys keep running,” she said. She turned to Qiu’yue. “Mei-Mei, we can’t fight them. We can’t. So keep running.”

“But —”

“Brat! Keep running,” Meili screamed. “They definitely want you dead, so just keep running. Ge-ge and I will be fine. Besides, it will help my idiot brother’s lie. So what if they sell us into slavery? We won’t be dead. We can train and then escape. We’ll come back to the sect then. So run. Please.”

“No,” Qiu’yue cried. “No, no, no. You’re lying like Papa! If I leave, I’ll never see you again.”

“Uh, would it be a bad time to interrupt?” Everyone glanced up to see Gai’zhi grinning. He leapt down from his perch.

“You, didn’t you run away?” Cai asked with clenched fists.

“Of course I ran!” Gai’zhi pouted. “But I didn’t run all the way to the Black Pearl Sect. And it seems I made the right decision.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I risk my life for incompetent people, I would definitely die. But you guys made it this

far. That means I wouldn’t die if I do help you.”

“Why would you help us? It doesn’t make sense for someone who ran away so selfishly!” Cai retorted sharply. Sha flinched slightly at those words.

“Because what kind of person would I be if I let children die,” Gai’zhi asked with a stomp. “I wasn’t able to fight them then. But I can now.”

“But if we were incompetent, you would have let us die,” Cai responded with a frown.

“No, if you guys were incompetent, I would not have let you die. Let implies I had the ability to do something else. And why should I throw away my own life vainly? Wouldn’t that be a worse sin?” Gai’zhi pouted and placed his hands on his hips.

“Can you save him then?” Meili asked eagerly. “Can you save my brother?”

Gai’zhi nodded with a wide smile. “If my plan works, yes. After all, the number one strength of the external school is to defeat higher ranked people.”

Gathering the children close, then having everyone run again, Gai’zhi explained his martial art and plan.

Gai’zhi practiced Yinfujing [Evil Protection Essence], a type of martial arts specialized in alchemy, talismans, and formations. He explained that, despite his flashy explosive talismans, his core strength lied in his intricate formations to control territory. Even though he remained unable to contest against the tiger twins fairly, he was certain he can kill them with his traps.

However, to set up his formations, it often took an incense of time by himself. Everyone felt the encroaching pressure of the tigers behind. Someone must act as decoy to buy time for the formation to be completed. At the same time, there was the issue of Jang-Guo’s rescue.

Gai’zhi brushed the role of decoy aside for the end. However, Cai volunteered.

“Junior Brother Cai, I’ll be the decoy. My Tudigong makes escaping easy,” Senior Sha contested the position.

“Senior Sha, I know you want to gain everyone’s trust again, but this is a life-or-death situation,” Cai responded without meeting Senior Sha’s eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

Qiu’yue frowned. “Cai, Senior Sha is just trying to help.”

“But he won’t be able to help me,” Cai said. “If it’s just him, they’ll sense only one person’s qi — that isn’t enough. But with my Wuzhen Quan’s [Realize Truth Fist] first form, dukkha, I can trick them.”

He got up and dashed in rapid succession, leaving behind afterimages lasting a breath each. In between the dashes, only the faintest of presence was felt — but from each image came qi rivaling the actual person. However, the demonstration left Cai visibly drained.

“But you have to keep it up for at least half an incense,” Gai’zhi remarked with concern.

Cai shook his head. “They expect us to be at least near the exit. So at most, a quarter incense. And with Senior Sha’s martial art, he can traverse the area quickly.”

“Fine, what about —”

“Bring me with you,” Qiu’yue said. “I won’t be as useful setting up talismans since I shouldn’t use all my qi in the first place. I can help you out. And what happens if you get caught? At least I can —”

“Be there to die?” Cai snorted.

Qiu’yue shook her head. “Do you notice anything? Quiet Thoughts is gone. She’s fused with Ten Suns again. When we get caught, I can summon her for a surprise attack.”

“How can you be certain the one with the sword will come?” Cai argued.

“I think Mei-Mei should go with you Cai,” Meili intervened weakly. “If Ge-ge’s alive when they enter the forest, either both twins will chase or the one with the sword. They would not allow someone they don’t trust near his weapon. Please, if only for luck.”

“Fine,” Cai reluctantly obliged.

“Oh yeah, if you can, try to get as much snow onto their halberds as possible,” Gai’zhi said. “It doesn’t seem like any of them own any magical weapons. If their halberds are normal iron and wood, the cold should make the metal brittle enough to shatter. And since they’re mercenaries, I doubt their martial arts are too extraordinary.”

Qiu’yue and Cai nodded.

Then the roles for Sha and Meili were delegated. Senior Sha and Meili would assist in Gai’zhi set up his formations. After that, they would ambush the twins to retrieve Jang-Guo. Though, if Jang-Guo had already been killed, Senior Sha would bring Meili to safety.

After discussing the last of the plan, everyone felt the presence of three people near. Meili and Qiu’yue looked at each other and smiled in relief. Then, Senior Sha grabbed Meili and dove beneath the snow. Gai’zhi nodded at Cai and Qiu’yue and hopped back onto the branches.

After Zhima Shi left to capture the children, Zhima Bao blew his lips. He glanced at the bald boy behind him.

“So, do you feel colder because you don’t have hair covering you?” He asked.

“I wouldn’t know. Maybe.” Jang-Guo shrugged. “I’ve been bald my entire life.”

“Hmm, so if I put a wig on you, I can sell you off to a brothel too?” Zhima Bao smiled. Jang-Guo glared at him. “Calm down. It was a joke. We tiger brothers always keeps our words. We will not sell you or your sister separately, or to a brothel.”

Jang-Guo stayed silent for a moment. He glanced at the snow with a sad expression. “You and your brother are good people deep down, huh?”

“Hmph, you think so?” Zhima Bao snorted. “Boss always told us we were bastard sons from a good family.”

“Maybe you are,” Jang-Guo nodded, staring intently at the snow. “I guess Fate isn’t so kind.”

“Brat, you should read some more Mozi,” Zhima Bao criticized. “Fate is what you make of it.”

“I guess it is; I’m sorry,” Jang-Guo apologized as he saw a flock of yellow talismans approach.

Zhima Bao cursed and cleaved through the talismans, resulting in several explosions. He screamed as smoke quickly surrounded him. Spinning around, the mercenary whipped her halberd — clearing both smoke and assaulting the intruders behind him.

But there was no one there except for Jang-Guo. Zhima Shi frowned and scouted the area for any presence of life beside the boy. One. From under the snow.

Meili jumped from the cover of snow and struck. Having just completed a very powerful strike, Zhima Bao’s right flank was open, and he was in a poor position to defend. But not an impossible

one. As a mercenary from childhood, he has lived through worse ambushes. Twisting his wrists, Zhima Bao jabbed his halberd forward at the girl’s chest.

Exhaling, Meili sank her foot into the snow, and slammed her palms against the blade. The halberd skidded through the initial clasp, ripping at skin, stopping after it penetrated the skin of the girl’s chest, making a long slit. Meili backed away immediately. Her task was complete. Two yellow

talismans attached themselves to either side of the halberd.

“My brother is mine alone,” Meili snarled.

Senior Sha grabbed both Jang-Guo and Meili and disappeared under the ground. Zhima Bao made to gave chase, but the moment he moved, a pulse of electricity exploded from both sides of his halberd and his weapon shattered as both arms became paralyzed from shock.

“Shit,” Zhima Bao slammed his head onto the ground. He jolted his head and bit his lips. “Brother, please be fine.”

“See, everything went according to plan, like I told you,” Gai’zhi bragged, touching his nose. He greeted Senior Sha’s group.

Qiu’yue grew flustered and fidgeted. She turned to Gai’zhi and apologized.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Gai’zhi waved it off with a smile. “You were just angry I ran like a coward and that all these bad things happened. It’s fine. Let’s get going, though. My barrier may hold out for a while — but I’m not sure about the boy’s leg.”

Everyone nodded. Gai’zhi picked up Cai. Meili helped her brother along. As they left the confines of the forest, the mood grew lighter.

“Oi, were you the one who came up with the plan?” Jang-Guo barked at Gai’zhi. “What were you going to do if my cute, little sister got hurt, huh? Wait, she did get hurt! How are you going to compensate?”

“Ge-ge,” Meili scolded and slapped his bald head. “You’re even worse! Honestly, were you planning on having me bury your dead body?”

“But I’m your older brother,” Jang-Guo argued. “Besides you did get hurt, so we should be compensated. That’s only just and right!”

“I saved you?” Gai’zhi shrugged. “And I also saved your sister from suffering emotional trauma?”

“And what if she died,” Jang-Guo pouted.

“Tang-ge, you’re being mean,” Qiu’yue scolded. “Senior Brother saved us all!”

“Ah, what a precious little flower,” Gai’zhi beamed as he patted Qiu’yue’s head. Senior Sha trailed behind the pack some. He felt he was not yet forgiven.

“Uh, Senior Sha, uh, thanks,” Meili said, looking at him.

“Yeah, without you, the formation wouldn’t have been done so fast,” Gai’zhi gave him a thumb up.

“Let me treat you to your first woman once we get Cai here some medical attention.”

“[Insert whatever image you want],” Senior Sha went into a daze after hearing the promise.

“No!” Both Qiu’yue and Meili shouted. “That’s impure.”

“Yeah! Those bastards were going to sell Meili to one,” Jang-Guo fumed.

The only ones who has not quite acknowledged Senior Sha’s presence were Cai and Jang-Guo. Cai was out cold. Jang-Guo left Meili’s arms and went to Senior Sha — and punched him.

“Senior Brother Sha! Next time, tell us if you’re going to do something stupid, dangerous, or crazy — or dangerously, stupidly crazy.” Jang-Guo started to cry. “We may not show it, but we do care about you a lot. That’s why you should trust in your junior siblings.”

“I know you’re trying to fill in Liu Da-Ge’s shadow, but you can just be yourself,” Meili said also.

Hearing those words, Senior Sha started to bawl — and with his face, the slew of snot made the wasteland called his face worsen exponentially. Jang-Guo backed away slightly with a gag. Still, he extended out a hand to pat his senior brother’s back.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Senior Sha cried. “I was just really afraid of you guys leaving me behind. I’m sorry…”

“Ah, the spirit of youth,” Gai’zhi laughed.

“Will you all just shut up!” Cai shouted, launching up from Gai’zhi’s arms. Then, moaning, he fell unconscious again.

Everyone smiled, then laughed, as the city resting at the base of the mountains came into reach.

The boss sighed. Took a long drag of his pipe, then threw the damn thing onto the snow and

crushed it. Closing his eyes, he placed a hand onto Zhima Bao’s shoulder and told him to go to him.

Zhima Bao looked at the others. Then at the snow. He thought back to that boy’s sister, “Ah, her hair was like snow.” The man trusted — even liked — the boy’s dedication to his sister. It reminded him of his own love for his own brother. He glanced at the sky. It was nearing night, and the colors was a mismatch of black and pink and blue. He and his brother were mismatch pairs, born into a world where they were not needed. They had each other though — had, no more, though.

Tian-Wei slammed his steel clubs against a tree. Then the ground. He rampaged as tears streamed down his eyes, until craters covered the ground. Surely, when spring rain came, they would become shallow pools, a cesspool of vermin.

Mu Song reacted in a way the others never knew he was capable of. Absolute confusion. He looked at his tears dripped onto his palms. He glanced at the body. Then he simply sat down and cradled his staff.

Zhima Bao took the first step forward, stumbled, got up, and continued. He dully dragged his feet through the snow forward. Reaching the body, Zhima Bao opened his mouth — whimpered — then closed it. Closing his eyes, mouth wavering with no control, he flung his arms around his dead brother.

The mercenaries gave their tiger brother a proper burial. They marched as one, crushing Gai’zhi’s barrier under their might.

“We are going to kill those brats,” the boss breathed out as he swallowed his anger. “Fuck the Black Pearl Sect. Fuck any sect who will interfere. We are going to kill them, even if we die and become ghosts. We are going to kill them.”

The brothers solemnly nodded and roared.

Approaching the base of the mountain, something stopped the bloodthirsty pack. It was a sensation like death. Slick, sharp, and unexpected. The boss stopped moving; everyone stopped moving. Stepping out from seemingly nowhere was a man with a mask.

“You wish to kill someone yes?” He asked.

The boss evaluated the man. He was soul-severance stage — the same as the rest of them. Yet, something told him the man was capable of wiping his brothers out. The boss nodded.

“You can’t just charge into the universally acknowledged number one sect specialized in defense, you know. Even assassins rarely manage to slip in; some do, but most do not.” He told them. Then he pointed at some bodies lied bloody in the snow. “I’m an assassin. I was going to use those dead bodies to stir up commotion. But you guys can cause more chaos, right?”

The boss swallowed his breath and laughed. He nodded.

The masked man nodded as well. “Good. Come forward, please.”

The boss stepped forward. In a moment, everything was over. The masked assassin wrapped his hand with lightning and plunged those talons into the boss’s temples. Shuddering, the boss gasped as the man retracted his claws.

“Y-you,” Tian-Wei shouted.

“It’s, it’s fine,” the boss said with a laugh. “He just sent me the details about one of the bodies over there.”

One by one, the masked man transmitted new identities to the mercenaries. Then, the masked man gave everyone a complete makeover.

“It is fortunate that all of you fit the body types of the dead.”

“Or maybe it’s fate,” Zhima Bao said bitterly.

“Maybe,” the masked man repeated. Then, he disappeared.

Laughing madly, four rabid tigers entered the city renown as the Iron Shell. A bloodbath was sure to ensue.