“Hey, runt. What did that guy want?”

The young guard smiled and waved back towards the nearby tavern, “Oh, that guy bought me a drink and asked if we were heading to Red Knife City. He gave me a Flying Sword Message to release.”

The older guard laughed and clapped the younger man on the shoulder, “Really? You asked for payment, right? How much did you get?”

“Twenty Spirit Stones. He said it was real urgent and threw them to me before I could even ask.”

The older man whistled and then shook his head, “Still naive, kid! If he paid that much without you even asking then you definitely could have got even more out of him. Just cause it’s a lot more than you expected doesn’t mean you can’t get more!”

The younger guard looked down, a sheepish look on his face, “You’re right…”

Laughing again, the older guard comforted him with a few more pats on the back, “Consider it a lesson learned and buy me a drink once we get to Red Knife City.”

The two thought nothing of the assignment. Daggerguard City and Red Knife City were separated by Red Knife Pass, the border of Green Plateau and Holy Flame Provinces. It was a heavily guarded area and no normal messaging methods could pass through on their own. Messages had to be transferred personally to circumvent the security. On their end, all they had to do was carry an object in their Storage Bag and then activate it a few days later. Some might even take such a simple job for free, let alone when someone offered to pay so handsomely for it.

The caravan left Daggerguard City a few hours later. As an independent Merchant Company, they were frequent visitors and so the checks they suffered at the gate were far less than others. Even so, they were far more stringent than usual. Most figured it was just a safety measure due to the auction. There were many in town that were usually not allowed so they were probably just being extra safe.

Weirdly, there was another security check midway through the pass. Daggerguard City had set up a temporary fortification and were checking everyone a second time. While they were waiting in line at the checkpoint, the young guard looked to the older one, “Senior, what do think is going on? Why is there a second check?”

“Maybe somebody stole something and they didn’t figure it out till they left the city. Maybe they just want to intimidate us all with their power. Maybe it’s not official and the guards are taking bribes to let people through quickly. Who knows. Best keep our mouths shut and heads down.”

The young guard nodded his head and did as he was told, not wanting to get into any trouble. He was still new and if he screwed up he’d get fired, or even blamed and handed over to whoever they had trouble with. After a more thorough search, they passed through and before long they were already in Red Knife City and the young guard took out a Flying Sword. There was a scroll wrapped around the handle, and all he had to do was channel a bit of Qi into the sword and it flew off into the air. The sword dashed off on its own, flying into the sky and disappearing from view.

Cutting through the air, a Flying Sword was hard to see at a distance. Just a small object moving through the sky at high speed. Flying Swords were usually shorter, thinner, and lighter than normal swords, looking more like a very large letter opener or a child sized sword. Unless instructed otherwise, Flying Swords would skim just over the treeline. Up high they were easy to spot from far away and with the trees in the way it was difficult to see it coming till it was already flashing past. As the sword was nearing Treasure Pass it was suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. The blade was caught completely motionless between an index and middle finger.

A few seconds later when nothing happened, a second hand moved over and flicked the sword’s blade. The seemingly gentle maneuver had a profound effect on the Flying Sword. The sword began to vibrate, the arrays within it degrading slightly.

“Come out already.”

A feminine voice spoke to the sword and a few seconds later, a figure appeared on the huge tree branch where the person holding the sword was standing. The new arrival was wearing torn and faded brown pants along with a many times patched tan shirt. He was of average height and build with short brown hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin that looked like he spent his whole life outdoors.

“Not too bad a disguise, but you can’t fool me.”

The man kept his head down and started to grovel, “Please Great One forgive me for offending you. I did not know how high the heavens were, please spare me. Spare my measly life and I will do anything you wish, Magnificent One.”

“Hah, knock that off already, Lang Sheng. I know it’s you, stop messing around already.”

The woman, quite beautiful and garbed in the cloud grey robes of the Holy Flame Sect, gave the Flying Sword in her hand a shake as a threat and the man rose back to his feet and bowed at the waist, dropping his head down low.

“This Disciple greets Peak Master Zhen. Please forgive this one’s transgressions and ignorance, but how did you find me?”

The man, Sage, kept from begging too much as he’d already made a fool out of himself and it seemed that Peak Master Zhen had no trouble tracking him down. There was little chance of an escape and even less chance of not being caught again, but even if this is where it all ended, he was still curious how he was found.

“I’m in charge of information gathering, remember? A man with a similar description as you was reported to have asked a message to be delivered.”

She stared at Sage like that was all the explanation necessary. Then she finally laughed and tossed the Flying Sword back to Sage, “Hah! Did you think I was an idiot? That I could forget you were a beast? Seems that you made your own Flying Sword and added a Beast Bag to it. Nice trick.”

Not too far off, but close enough. At least the Universe Ring is still a secret.

“I would never think such a thing, Peak Master. The fact just slipped my mind. So, what happens now?”

The stress had corroded his usual overly polite and compliment filled speech. Just a few minutes ago he was congratulating himself on using his Hypnotic Eye to make that young guard forget him. The Universe Ring was hidden in a secret slot on that Flying Sword and the kid watched him disappear into thin air. The Flying Sword, with an added Beast Bag function as a decoy, was his escape device, he’d built three of them back when he was at the Sect. A backup to always relying on his insects to flee.

Now, he could only think about the Peak Master and how any second now she would capture him and turn him over to the Shihu Kingdom for a bounty. Anyone caught using seals could be traded in for a generous bounty to the Royal Family of the Kingdom. Peak Master Zhen stayed silent for a few long and terrifying minutes, all the while staring at Sage fiercely and putting the weight of her aura into her gaze.

Even though his face was completely expressionless at the moment, the pressure of the Peak Master’s aura made him break into a terrible sweat and was rapidly elevating his heart rate. Suddenly, her hand darted out so fast that Sage could barely see it before it slammed against his shoulder and knocked him off balance. While he stumbled to the ground, Peak Master Zhen started to laugh.

“Haha, that was great! Even if you keep your face all stiff I can still see the terror in your eyes and smell it in your sweat. Numbskull. If I was going to do something to you, I’d have already knocked you out and put you into a cell.”

Wait, what?