Unfortunately, those guarantees were proven wrong.

About an hour later, the grove was still being cleaned up and the fear from the attack had gradually calmed down. The troops were dispersed into the air, combing the surroundings for signs of the culprit. Each of the Seven Stars had their own personal legion of a thousand soldiers. Half of them had been attending the event as guards while the other half had been carrying on their normal duties. After the spectacle at the wedding the full legion was brought to the wedding reception while reinforcements were called from the surrounding counties and provinces.

While all of this was going on, the injured groom, Qian De, was laid atop a bed within a large tent. It was placed near the edge of the forest grove, a backup location the reception could move to in case the weather takes a turn for the worse. A Doctor just finished bandaging Qian De’s wounds. The two of them were in a smaller partitioned room of the tent and just outside were a couple dozen people worried about his condition. The large tent itself was absolutely surrounded by soldiers still on high alert.

The Doctor stepped out of the small room and left Qian De alone. The crowd outside the room looked ready to rip the Doctor apart if he didn’t speak and the Doctor gave them a chilling glare, “Being excitable will not make him heal faster! Calm down. Give him some time to recuperate. The medicinal pills that he has been given should have him up on his feet in half a day. He won’t be in great shape, but with how important this is, he should be able to push through.”

The bride, in her red dress and full of concern, was the only one they allowed to see Qian De. He was very drowsy and after a quiet conversation and much worried hand holding, he fell asleep and was given some time to rest. The most concerned individuals waited outside the room with various levels of anxiety and patience. Only the Doctor stayed in the room to monitor Qian De’s condition.

While the Doctor was checking Qian De’s pulse there was a sudden change taking place behind him. The tip of a blade stabbed inwards from the wall of the tent. Then it slowly slid downwards, leaving behind a vertical slice. Only, it wasn’t the wall of the tent being cut. The cloth wasn’t being touched in the slightest, the blade actually originated a full foot away from the side of the tent. Just as had happened before, the world was cut. The very space itself was torn and revealed a black emptiness. The black blade of the saber retracted back into the emptiness and then a figure suddenly stepped out.

The rip in space made no noise, the only sound that of the saber passing through the air. The cut was slow and deliberate making it very difficult to hear, especially since the Doctor was focused on checking a pulse and the others were separated by a dozen yards, a few layers of cloth, and doing their best to stay quiet. The person who stepped out of that rip was that same arrogant youth from before and the Doctor was startled by the sound of a leather object smacking against the ground.

A dark leather bag was thrown onto the ground and the youth spit on it, “Stupid bag! So stuffy!”

The Doctor turned around and his eyes widened. He started to yell for help, but it was too late. After the youth cursed at the bag on the ground, he immediately smiled at the Doctor and then waved the saber in his hand. Before the Doctor knew what was going on, he felt like he was falling and everything was getting cold. An invisible arc had flown through the air and passed through Qian De’s neck. At the same time, the path of travel had taken it through the Doctor’s waist and the man was split into multiple pieces. The Doctor’s upper body fell to the ground and he looked up at the ceiling of the tent in confusion.

The curtain had already been pulled back and the guards outside yelled as they started to rush into the room. The youth laughed and flicked his saber to scoop up the bag from the floor. He caught the bag with his other hand and sent a few waves of cutting energy towards the guards barging into the room. Then he sent one skyward and leapt through the hole in the tent. His legs kicked and he jumped off of invisible surfaces, dashing through the sky at high speed.

The Jade Horde did all they could, following the youth as far as they could. He traveled over a large river to lose most of them and then killed a few dozen Vulture Gecko Riders. A few hours later, the youth was sitting in front of a fire. He was inside a cave on the side of a mountain, a place that had tiny tufts of fur and bones that meant it used to be a bear’s den or something like one. He was currently bandaging himself up from where he’d been hit by an arrow and suffered a cut across his thigh. Facing so many airborne enemies at once had not gone flawlessly.

Then, a small butterfly flew into the cave and landed on a rock beside him. Upon landing it was obvious it was not a real butterfly, but made of folded paper. The youth picked up the little origami creature and placed it against his ear.

“Where are you? What’s taking so long? Boss didn’t say anything, but I can tell he’s worried.”

The overly handsome youth heard the voice coming from the paper butterfly and he spoke to the empty cave, “Ehh… you don’t have to worry about me. I’m too amazing for that.”

“Oh yeah? Then why aren’t you here yet?”

“Ah, that. I, er…”

“You’re being chased and hiding somewhere, aren’t you? You know we were only supposed to be gathering information, not picking fights!”

“Who do you think I am? I already got away. I just got a little cut up, it’s no big deal I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“Psh, figures. Boss is gonna be pissed at you. Just hurry up, Jiyao!”

“Watch your mouth, Baozhai! I’ll be there tomorrow, okay!”

The longer the conversation went, the more flustered the youth sounded. After finishing the conversation, the origami butterfly dissolved into ash. The youth’s wounds weren’t deep so he took care of them quickly and then took out a sleeping roll.

Elsewhere, another butterfly faded into ash and a girl with tanned coppery skin smacked her hands together to brush away the dust. She was quite slim with inordinately long legs and short, but thick auburn hair. She had on a pair of long pants and a very baggy garment on her upper body. It had long sleeves, a hood, and a huge pocket on the front, looking quite like if someone tried to make a sweatshirt out of silk. She turned around to face a small group of similarly aged young folk that had already gathered. Three sets of eyes set upon her and she gave them a shrug, “That dummy probably nearly died.”

One of the three, with a bald head, no eyebrows and strange silvery color changing eyes responded, “That idiot, Jiyao. I’m going to break his ass bones.”

“All shall be fine. He answered you, so he can’t be that bad off. It’s not our place to discipline him. How was your task, Baozhai?”

A small statured man with red hair and an overly large mouth had defused the situation and instead turned the conversation back to the girl, “It was simple enough, the Brass Earth Sect disciples were easy to talk to, but I had to ask a lot of them to be sure. We had three months to accomplish our tasks, yet that idiot is still late.”

The last person in the gathering was a very curvy woman with long dark hair and dark eyes. She had on a skintight suit of black leather and there was a violent look in her eyes, even as she spoke softly, “Juzui is right. Just let Boss worry about it. We’ve already done our jobs so just relax and wait for the rendezvous.”

The long legged girl stuck out her tongue and made a cutesy face, but none of the others fell for it. She sat down next to them on a log and took out a scroll to write on. The bald headed and eyebrowless guy grumbled a few times and then walked away, pulling out a large spear and starting to train with it to pass the time.