With blood dripping down her gritted teeth, Wu Taohua unsheathed a butterfly knife and swung it forward. The figure leapt back.

“S-Sister!” Mother screamed in shock and horror.

“What are you three still doing here?! Go! Run! I’ll hold them off!”

“I can’t! I can’t leave you too!” Mother shouted.

“Mei! Get them out of here!” Wu Taohua ordered.

Wu Meiying didn’t even speak as she grabbed Mother and Wu Jian by the arms, hauled them to their feet, and raced into the trees.

The figure tried to follow, but Wu Taohua unleashed a powerful blast of chi that transformed into a wolf made from many blades of wind. The attack severed the ground in front of the figure, stopping them in their tracks.

“Where do you think you’re going?” asked Wu Taohua.

The figure turned around to stare at her. He didn’t say anything, but that was just fine. Wu Taohua wasn’t in the mood to trade wits and words. All she wanted was someone to unleash her anger and sorrow on.

Wu Taohua possessed an affinity for wind, which was how she killed silently. She could mask the sounds made from her attacks with wind and used dark weapons to prevent them from reflecting sunlight.

She threw several knives hidden in her sleeves. Each blade was coated with wind. It not only masked their sound but also created a sharp blade that could cut through even boulders.

The figure caught them and sent them soaring back.

“What?!”

Wu Taohua dodged out of the way and grimaced as the knives penetrated the tree several chi behind her.

The figure’s body seemed to blur, and Wu Taohua barely had time to move as something powerful nearly slammed into her chest. She wasn’t fast enough to avoid the blow. Biting back a scream of pain as the bones in her elbow broke, Wu Taohua spun on the balls of her feet and launched a kick at the figure’s torso.

It was blocked.

SNAP!

“Naaaaaaah!!!”

Wu Taohua could not withhold her scream as the figure grabbed her ankle and slammed their elbow into her knee. The loud sound of her bones breaking mixed with her anguished cries.

Even in pain, she found the strength to move. She threw several knives from close range. Even someone as fast as this person should not have been able to dodge, but their figure seemed to blur our of focus and appear several chi away.

Wu Taohua hobbled back and eyed her opponent. She could barely maintain her balance on a single foot.

This person is much stronger than me. He’s at least an Asura Realm cultivator. Probably around the fifth or sixth subrealm.

Wu Taohua had managed to reach the Asura Realm just last year, but she was only at the first subrealm.

Only a fool would assume the difference between subrealms was small. They might both be at the Asura Realm, but someone several subrealms higher would have more chi and control. They were also much more physically stronger.

“You might be stronger than me, but I’m not going to let you go after my family. Even if I die here, I am going to make sure I take you with me.”

The figure dashed forward without uttering a word. Wu Taohua had no time to dodge, not with her broken leg, so she didn’t. She merely twisted her body at the last second.

Pain pierced her shoulder as a hand went through it. She gritted her teeth, latched onto the limb embedded in her shoulder, and made a hand seal with her free hand.

All the blood in her body began boiling. It leaked from her mouth. Steam rose from the blood with a hiss.

For the first time since this battle began, the figure seemed to panic. They tried to pull out their hand. Wu Taohua had no intention of letting that happen. She kept a firm grip on them.

More pain speared through her as the figure’s other hand punched a hole clean through her stomach, but she didn’t relent. She gathered all the chi in her body, transformed it into a small ball, and then released it in one go.

Bright light filled the clearing as Wu Taohua’s was torn apart from the inside in a massive explosion of chi.

***

Wu Jian, Wu Meiying, and Mother stopped running as a massive explosion echoed from behind them. They turned to see a fierce storm of howling winds tear apart the tree and send them flying in all directions. Even Wu Jian, still insensitive to the feelings of chi, felt the hairs on his scalp prickle.

“No… Sister…” Mother mumbled in mute shock.

“We need to keep going,” Wu Meiying said. “We can’t let Wu Taohua’s sacrifice be in vein.”

Wu Meiying tugged on Wu Jian’s hand. He was too shocked and numb to do anything but let her pull him along. However, Mother slipped out of Wu Meiying’s grasp. The young woman turned around and looked desperately at the woman.

“Aunty! Come on! We can’t stay here!”

But Mother just looked at him and Wu Meiying to tear tracks glistening on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry… Little Mei… Little Jian, but I… I can’t abandon my sister and husband, after all. Go on without me. Live a strong life.”

“No! D-don’t go! Please! Aunty!!!”

Wu Jian could say nothing as Wu Meiying screamed and Mother disappeared back into the trees. His best friend gritted her teeth to keep her own flood of tears at bay. She turned back around, pulled on his hand, and continued moving.

Time seemed to stretch on as they raced silently through the forest. Wu Jian had a hard time keeping up with Wu Meiying, who was not only stronger than him but also more emotionally stable. Several times he tripped on roots that he should have been able to easily avoid.

“Just a little further. Please, let us just get a little further,” Wu Meiying mumbled under her breath. “Dammit!”

Wu Meiying yanked Wu Jian forward. He stumbled to the ground. Wu Meiying hurriedly manuvered him behind her and eyed the figure that had suddenly appeared.

The cloak they wore had been torn apart and blood gushed from numerous wounds. It was now clear this person was a man. Their strong pectoral muscles and chizzeled abdominals marked their sex. His left arm was missing up to the elbow and a tourniquet had been used to stop the flow of blood. The mask covering their face was just barely intact, but enough was missing to reveal their pale face and a single icy blue eye.

Despite suffering such grievious injuries, they were still alive and willing to fight.

“Wu Jian, listen to me. Don’t move from that spot. You got it?” said Wu Meiying.

He looked up at the woman, whose eyes were now cold and devoid of emotion.

“I…” he tried to say something, but his throat had closed up. No words came to him. What could he even say in this situation?

Wu Meiying darted forward, running low to the ground to increase her speed, and attacked the man with a palm thrust to the chest. It was blocked by a forearm. She grunted and released an explosion of chi that sent this person stumbling back. An attack from a cultivator of her level would have normally never moved someone several realms above her, but her opponent was already suffering grievious injuries.

Despite being hurt, the man had enough mental acuity to attack. Wu Meiying released a grunt of pain as her opponent’s foot slammed into her torso. She managed to divert a good portion of the force by moving her body with the blow, but she was clear not strong or fast enough to fully avoid injury.

She spun around. Her hair whipped forward and a strange ripple spread from it. The man leaned back to avoid it. Wu Meiying didn’t let such an opportunity go to waste. She bent down, placed her hands on the ground, and swept the man’s legs out from under him. She tried to attack again, but he rolled across the ground to avoid her heel stomp.

Wu Jian could do nothing as he watched the fight. He was too shocked to so much as lament his own powerlessness. Everything had happened so fast.

It became clear as the battle continued that Wu Meiying, despite being weaker, had the upper hand. She moved like she knew what her enemy would do before even he knew himself. This allowed her to avoid crippling attacks and even attack his weakpoints. She released her chi into the man’s acupoints with precise thrusts of her fingers.

Nothing seemed to happen at first. Her attacks didn’t seem to do damage, but then the man stumbled after she struck his torso for the seventeenth time. Blood gushed from his mouth and stained what remained of his mask.

“It doesn’t matter how powerful you are. You’re injured, and even if you have enough chi to protect yourself from my attacks, you’ll eventually get hurt so long as I continue to strike you in the same spot,” Wu Meiying declared. It didn’t sound like she was saying this for her opponent. Wu Jian felt like she was saying it for his benefit.

The man seemed to have finally judged that he couldn’t win, for he turned and dashed toward Wu Jian, who could do nothing but look up as the man raised his hand and prepared to strike him down.

“Now, Yōuměi!”

A black figure leapt from Wu Jian’s shadow. Before the man could end Wu Jian’s life, Yōuměi latched onto his neck and bit down. Blood spurted from the wound like a fountain, coating Yōuměi’s fur and his face. The man tried to pry Yōuměi off him, but his strength was already spent. He fell back and Yōuměi, refusing to let go until she was sure he had died, remained on top of him for several seconds.

“Good job, Yōuměi,” Wu Meiying said.

“Grrrrr,” Yōuměi growled softly.

Wu Meiying looked at the corpse, bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, then turned to Wu Jian. The look in her eyes finally made him remember to speak.

“Mei… what’s with that look in your eyes.”

Wu Meiying knelt down and tapped his neck. A wave of energy swept through him, then Wu Jian’s entire body became limp. His eyes were still wide open. He couldn’t have closed them even if he wanted to.

That was why he could see Wu Meiying’s face.

Her face stained with tears and her nose dripping with fluid.

“I’m… I’m so… sorry, Jian. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wanted… to find a way to save everyone! I don’t want to leave you alone! I wanted to remain by your side with Aunty Àiliàn, Aunty Taohua, and Uncle Yōushì! I wanted to grow up in the Wu Clan, marry you, and have lots of children! I don’t want to leave your side again! But no matter how long I meditated, no matter how many timelines I searched through, none of them led to an ending where all of us lived together! This was… it was the only way!”

Wu Jian had never seen Wu Meiying so distraught before. It looked like something inside of her had broken, like the damn she had been holding back since she’d appeared after coming out of her sequestered cultivation had finally been released. She cried and cried and cried, staining Wu Jian’s face and chest with her tears.

He wanted to reach out.

He wanted to wipe away her tears.

He wanted to tell her everything would be okay.

But he couldn’t. His body wouldn’t move. Whatever Wu Meiying had done to him had paralyzed him.

Wu Meiying sniffled several times, wiped her face, and looked at him again. Her tears were gone, but her eyes were red.

“We don’t have much time left, so please listen to me carefully. The people who attacked us tonight are not the most powerful members of their group. They’re the weakest. The only reason we survived today is because the one who discovered me decided not to tell his superiors so he could hog all the glory to himself. His arrogance is the only reason you’re alive right now. But we can’t rely on everyone we fight being like him. You must grow stronger. Once you reach the Anima Realm, I want you to travel the world and cultivate your mind, body, heart. Become as strong as you possibly can. We’ll eventually meet again. I promise this won’t be the last time.”

Wu Meiying lifted her head and look off to the side. She growled in frustration before looking back at him.

“Jian, I will never tell you to forget what happened today. Never forget the loss you suffered here, but please don’t let it consume you. I want you to always remain the kind and honest person I love. Remember to always be kind to those who deserve it and merciless to those who don’t.”

A noise in the distance made Wu Meiying swear.

“Dammit! Take these!”

Wu Meiying placed two objects around his neck. One of them was the necklace Hou Jingshu had given him, and the other was something new, a strange necklace with a jeweled pendant that contained a strange quality like clouds had formed inside. There was an unusual symbol made from glowing lines of power, formed from the ancient language used to create seal arrays.

“Never take that necklace off under any circumstances,” Wu Meiying ordered. “It will keep you safe. Also… please try not to let anyone who knows you personally see your face. That necklace has the power to mask your presence within time, but it will unravel if too many people recognize you.”

Wu Jian didn’t understand everything she was saying, but he understood enough--not that he could tell her.

Wu Meiying leaned down and touched her lips to his. It was a kiss filled with equal amounts love and sorrow. Then she picked him up, set him on Yōuměi, and tied him to the panther so he wouldn’t fall off.

“Go now, Yōuměi. Run as far as you can. I will lead them away,” Wu Meiying said.

Wu Jian, for the first time since this night began, felt the beginning surges of panic. He tried to move. He wanted to tell her not to go. He wanted to say that she didn’t have to put herself in danger. He didn’t want to lose anyone else.

“Don’t… Mei…”

Wu Meiying’s eyes widened, but then she smiled. “You really are strong, and you’ll become so much stronger with time. Train hard, and when you and I meet again, I’ll reveal everything I can. Yōuměi!”

“Don’t… leave me!”

Wu Jian shouted, but his shout was lost to the distance as Yōuměi took off. Wu Meiying’s figure soon vanished.

***

Wu Meiying watched Wu Jian disappear.

I’ve lost him again.

She felt so many emotions raging inside of her. Heartache. Pain. A sense of loss. There was a hole in her chest. So many people she had grown to love had died this night, and the person who meant more to her than all the heavens was now gone from her sight. She could no longer bask in his light.

Beyond the pain and loss lay another emotion.

Hatred.

A burning, bubbling hatred. It simmered beneath the surface.

You just had to come and ruin my life again. Do you think I will let what happened last time happen once more. You should quit dreaming while you’re ahead.

The person she cursed in her heart could not hear her, of course. But that hardly mattered. She swore to herself that once she and Wu Jian became strong enough, she would tear that person apart, burn his soul to ashes, and prevent him from ever entering the cycle of reincarnation. And if he had any descendants, she would do the same to them.

Return kindness with kindness.

Wu Meiying took a deep breath in, then breathed out and released all the chi she had. It exploded from within her like a violent wave of blue energy. Her chi extended past the branches, reaching toward the heavens. There was no way the people who attacked them could miss it.

Meet vengeance with vengeance.

Wu Meiying took off. She raced through the trees. The people after her gave chase. She could not sense them through normal means. They were far stronger than her, but fortunately, none of them were ranked high enough to possess artifacts that stopped her from looking into their timelines. She would use that to her advantage.

I will come for you, you damn chimera, and when I do, I will return every injustice you have heaped upon me back to you tenfold.