Wi Jian left the meeting room and took to wandering the compound. He didn’t have a destination in mind, though his feet eventually took him to Wu Meiying’s room.

He stared up at the familiar building. Maybe it was instinct or desire that brought him here. He couldn’t deny that he wanted to see her, to be comforted by her just like he used to when they were younger—except he couldn’t because he needed to be strong.

“Jian? What are you doing here? Is the meeting over?”

Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu were in the room when he arrived. Wu Meiying’s room was very plain compared to his own. She had a futon, a mirror, and a closet for her clothes. There were no amenities or luxuries, though the bed was incredibly soft. It was made from the feathers of an echo hawk, a magical beast that was raised in the Shang Kingdom for their soft feathers.

“The meeting isn’t finished. I was told I could leave early.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile. “I was probably getting in the way.”

“How could you say something like that?” asked Hou Jingshu, standing up from the bed and glaring at him.

Wu Meiying also stood up, but she calmly walked over to Wu Jian, until she was standing in front of him. She studied him with that calm gaze of hers. A moment passed. Then she reached out and cupped his face between her hands. Soft warmth engulfed his cheeks as he closed his eyes. Wu Meiying caressed his face with her thumbs. They were warm, soft, and served to calm his emotions.

“It’s okay to be worried and afraid,” she said at last.

His lips trembled. “But I… have to be strong. You said it yourself. If I’m not strong enough, you’ll be taken away from me. I can’t be strong if I’m scared.”

Wu Meiying sighed softly. “Jian, do you know what courage is?”

“It’s being able to face extreme danger and difficulties without fear. It’s being daring and bold,” Wu Jian answered, opening his eyes.

By this point, Hou Jingshu had walked up to them and was staring at the two with an awkward expression, like she felt out of place, or maybe like she was watching something she knew she shouldn’t.

Wu Meiying was ignoring her for the moment. All her attention was on Wu Jian. However, Wu Jian wondered if maybe he should pull away when he saw the expression their other companion was making.

“That is what many people would say courage is, but I do not believe they are correct.” Wu Meiying continued to caress his face with her thumbs, a soft smile causing her own to light up. She looked almost like a goddess to Wu Jian as she continued talking. “Courage… true courage is being able to stand up and face great danger even though you are scared. Only idiots don’t feel fear. The mark of someone who is courageous is feeling fear but standing up to brave danger anyway because you have something important you want to protect.”

Wu Jian didn’t say anything for the longest time, but he mulled over her words. Father had always been what Wu Jian believed was a courageous man. He never felt fear in the face of danger and always acted decisively and boldly. His father feared nothing, or so it looked to him. To a young Wu Jian, that had seemed like courage to him, but Wu Meiying was now telling that this wasn’t courage.

“I… want to protect you and Hou Jingshu,” he said at last. “I’m scared of failing. I’m scared that former Elder Wei and his forces will break through our defenses and kill you both. I’m scared that I won’t be able to stop it from happening. And I hate this feeling. I hate feeling helpless, weak, and scared like this.”

“I understand, but I think that’s fine.” Wu Meiying let go of Wu Jian’s face and pulled him into a hug. He was taller than her now, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down until his head was resting against her chest, allowing him to hear the steady beating of her heart. “As long as you don’t let fear paralyse you and continue moving forward, it is okay to be afraid.”

Wu Meiying always knew what to say to make him feel better. He could feel his body relaxing within her embrace. Wu Jia felt like he might have fallen asleep at that moment—if someone hadn’t coughed into their hand to get his attention.

“Can you two please not do this while I’m standing right here?!” asked Hou Jingshu.

“Right. Sorry. We didn’t mean to.” Wu Jian reluctantly pulled away from Wu Meiying and rubbed the back of his head.

“Are you jealous?” asked a grinning Wu Meiying.

Hou Jingshu’s face, ears, and neck turned pink. “What?! Of course not!”

“Don’t lie. I know you want to comfort Jian too. You can if you want, you know? I don’t mind,” Wu Meiying teased.

“I don’t want to! A-anyway! I just, um, wanted to say that you don’t have to shoulder all the burdens on your own. If you’re afraid, then you can rely on us. Even if you’re scared, you don’t have to let it stop you… because I’ll be there when you need me.” She stared at them a moment longer, her face getting redder by the second, then looked away and crossed her arms. “Us three… you, me, and Meiying… we’re partners, so we should rely on each other… you know?”

Wu Jian felt a burst of emotion in his chest as he looked at the third member of their group. He had already it confirmed for himself, but feeling the warmth spreading through him now all but confirmed his love for her. When had it happened? He didn’t know, but it probably didn’t matter. At some point during their time together, Wu Jian had fallen in love with Hou Jingshu.

“You’re not very eloquent, are you?” asked Wu Meiying.

“Wha—that’s all you have to say after I poured my heart out like this?! Do you know how embarrassed I am right now?! And I’m perfectly eloquent, thank you very much!” Hou Jingshu shouted.

Wu Jian chuckled as he walked over to Hou Jingshu, who watched him approach with wary eyes and redness staining her cheeks. She squeaked when he surprised the girl by pulling her into an embrace. As the shortest one among them, Hou Jingshu only came up to about his chest. He felt like she fit perfectly within his arms as he tucked her head under his chin.

“Jingshu, thank you,” he said in a soft voice.

“Ah… you’re welcome,” Hou Jingshu said, voice muffled against his chest.

Wu Jian would have loved to remain like this, hugging this girl whom he had grown to love, but time waited for no one, and an alarm soon began blaring across the compound. It was loud and served to startle the trio. The tender atmosphere that had been built up vanished as though it had never existed.

He let go of Hou Jingshu and looked at Wu Meiying. She nodded. Then he looked at Hou Jingshu. While she had been blushing before, the alarm had made her shed all that embarrassment. She stared into his eyes and nodded as well.

Looks like we’re all on the same page.

They left Wu Meiying’s room and traveled outside, where pandemonium reigned. A bunch of people were running around. Most of them were heading toward the gates, though a few were escorting the young and those who couldn’t fight toward the dining hall. It was the only place large enough to hold so many people outside of the library, which was less defensible.

Wu Jian hailed down someone who was passing by, an older man with the same dark hair and eyes as him. “Wu Kin, what is going on? Is it the enemy?”

The man nodded. “It seems the Fierce Tiger Sect has been spotted marching up the road. They’ll be here any minute. Young Master, Wu Taohua has given everyone instructions to tell you that you are to head for the dining hall with the others and wait there.”

Wu Jian wanted to protest and say that he could help, but the man left before he could get another word out, rushing off toward the gate. Should he chase after the man? Would that accomplish anything? No, if he went toward the gate, Wu Taohua or whoever was in charge of defending it would just tell him to head to the dining hall.

What should I do?

“What should we do?” asked Hou Jingshu, mirroring his thoughts.

“We should head to the storage room,” said Wu Meiying. He and Hou Jingshu turned to her as she stared into the distance. “The storage room has all the ingredients necessary for that poison Tian Hao used to taint our farm. We will go there, create the poison, then travel to the testing ground.”

Wu Jian and Hou Jingshu looked at each other. They didn’t need to be geniuses to know that Wu Meiying was having another vision, nor did they need to ask what that vision had been about. If she was telling them to travel to the testing grounds, it meant the enemy was going to try and sneak into the compound through there.

Everyone else was at the gate, meaning there was no one to guard the rear. Who knew how many of their young members would die if someone snuck in and attacked from behind.

“Then let’s get to the storage room,” said Wu Jian.

The storage room was a building located away from all the others. While not as large as the dining hall or the library, it was big enough to fit several hundred people—or it would have been if it wasn’t filled to the brim with boxes of food, barrels of wine, and other ingredients. This was also where the alchemy pills they sold were stored.

Wu Meiying led them to where the medical ingredients were kept, cracked open several boxes, and pulled out what they needed. Under her direction, they quickly ground the bloodroot, moonshank, and wolfsbane into a paste, then added it to a jar of plum wine. After stirring it, Wu Meiying put on some gloves, dipped several rags into the jar, and looked at them.

“Grab some weapons. Daggers would be preferable.”

“O-okay!” Hou Jingshu said as she and Wu Jian stood up and went to a weapon rack. They grabbed a several daggers, which were about six inches in length, and came back.

“Those should work.”

Wu Meiying took the daggers they presented one at a time and wrapped them in the poison-soaked cloth. She then further wrapped them in cloth that wasn’t covered in poison. There were six daggers in total, so each of them received two.

“This should be enough. Whatever you do, don’t throw these during the fight,” she instructed them.

“We won’t,” Wu Jian said. While he was still scared, something about the way Wu Meiying took charge calmed him down. He believed they could get out of this situation so long as the three of them were together.

With their poison-coated weapons prepared, the trio made their way toward the testing grounds. Nobody was present to stop them. It looked like everyone really was either at the front gate or maybe in the surrounding forest to prevent former Elder Wei from breaking through while they were dealing with Hu Li.

They exited through a small gate and followed the winding, canyon-like path toward the testing ground. The testing grounds opened before them after several minutes of hiking. It looked the same as always. The tertiary seating surrounded the testing stage on three sides. A black obelisk sat in the very center of the testing platform, the testing stone, which looked solemn and imposing.

Nobody was there when they arrived.

“Are you sure people will be coming through this way?” asked Hou Jingshu.

“Are you doubting me?” asked Wu Meiying.

“That’s not it. I—”

“Relax. I saw it happen in a vision. They will be here,” Wu Meiying stated with complete certainty.

The group removed their weapons from the cloth. He looked at the daggers in his hand, which were coated in a purple poison. It seemed the poison had even soaked into the steal.

With a small frown, Wu Jian gave a few practice swings. He was not well-versed in the use of daggers. A quick glance at Hou Jingshu revealed the girl twirling the daggers around in her hand like an expert.

“They’re coming,” Wu Meiying said at last.

Wu Jian turned when he found several people climbing onto the platform. This testing ground was located on an elevated plateau hidden within a crevice close to West Fang Mountain. To reach it without using the path, a person would have to climb several hundred chi up a steep cliff with very few handholds. Even someone with a strength measuring sixteen thousand like Wu Jian would find that arduous.

A total of eleven people had climbed up the mountain. Wu Jian did not recognize eight of them. They were older men dressed in drab gray clothing, which he took to mean they weren’t very high up on the social ladder. None of them shared any similarities, physically speaking, and so he assumed they were members of the Fierce Tiger Sect. He didn’t know what their cultivation was, but judging by how hard they were breathing, he assumed they were all at the Body Forging Realm.

It was the three in front that captured most of his attention.

The one in front was a large boy with a wild look about him, arms like tree trunks, and a chest like a barrel. His clothing was made from a thick wool and had fur lining the collar. With his spiky black hair and wild eyes, he looked just like his father. The young man was Ming Shen.

Standing on his left was a pretty woman. She possessed auburn hair that descended all the way to her butt and was tied into a braid, an elegant neck like that of a swan and a soft collar bone, and a soft face of that was marred by an ugly sneer. Juishi Meirin. As she walked forward beside her husband, she removed a pair of battlefans from within her purple hanfu.

The last among them was someone Wu Jian had never expected to see again. Dark eyes and dark hair just like his own greeted him. The eyes were cold and hard like coal, containing a simmering rage that made Wu Jian want to flinch.

Wu Ming, who had disappeared after Wu Fei failed to assassinate Wu Jian and died as a result, stalked forward while radiating an intent to kill that far surpassed that night.