Bai Lin had changed since Jia had last seen her—at least, in terms of appearance. Apparently no longer hiding her gender, she wore a dress robe in the same black and white color palette as her underlings, but accented with red and gold that invoked the autumn colors in the trees above. Her androgynous features were enhanced by makeup to give her a more feminine appearance, and even the way she walked and carried herself was different.

Her face, however—not the appearance, but the expression—was exactly as Jia remembered it. She wore a mask of smug superiority and sadistic cruelty that only served to hide a truth that was even more vile. Bai Lin took Qin supremacy to an entirely different level, hating foreigners—and half-spirits especially—with a level of vitriol that went far beyond simple patriotism.

“My old friends from the academy. It’s been too long! I regret that we never had a chance to reconnect after the tournament.”

Jia suppressed a grimace. Bai Lin’s words and tone were cordial, but Jia could feel the venomous irony behind each and every one. Eui didn’t bother to hide her disgust.

“You mean after Jia kicked your ass hard enough that you ate your own shit.”

Both the Austere Mountain group and Bai Lin’s subordinates shifted uncomfortably, but Bai Lin just covered her mouth and giggled.

“Such a vulgar analogy! The years have done nothing to smooth over that roughness of yours, I see—such a waste of beauty. It was a good match! I never imagined I’d meet another wielder of spirits, much less one willing to subject themselves to such a visceral connection. I can’t imagine letting one of those things anywhere near my soul, but I suppose the results speak for themselves.”

Jia frowned. Bai Lin was too relaxed—too confident in her position despite being so thoroughly outmatched. Was it just arrogance, or was there something else at play? Jia couldn’t sense any xiantian presences, but the barriers in the forest were making it difficult to extend her domain.

“You’re not hiding your gender anymore, Lady Bai Lin?”

“Ugh, thankfully not—do you have any idea how tedious that was? Some recent developments have set precedents which made it more expedient for me to officially debut as a female heir to the clan. Fending off suitors is an entirely separate kind of tedious—not that I’d expect you to know anything about that.”

Jia blinked—what? That was clearly meant to be a barb of some kind but...did Bai Lin seriously think that Jia would care about something like that? Everything about the interaction felt off, and she couldn’t place her finger on why.

Shaking her head, she belatedly remembered the role she was supposed to be playing.

“Right, well—as nice as it’s been to meet you again, allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Magus Ambassador Lee Jia, representing the Yamato-Goryeo Alliance. I present to our hosts, the representatives of our signatories—the Princess Seong Misun of the Goryeon Royal Family, and Master Ienaga Yumi, the Daimyo of Yamato’s Ienaga province.”

Jia bowed and stepped back as Misun and Master Ienaga strode forward to replace her. The princess didn’t waste any time.

“We are here by invitation of Lady Yan Yue of the Great Awakening Dragon Sect to attend as guests of her fiance’s Spiritual Flowing Purewater Sect. My entourage and I will be traveling directly to Qingchuan province, and have chosen to announce ourselves here as a courtesy.”

Bai Lin smiled stiffly, and Jia could sense a slight tremor in her hands.

“I’m afraid that won’t be happening, Miss—”

“Princess! You will address me by my proper titles, or not at all, Lady Bai. And I was not requesting your permission. I was informing you of my intent.”

“The decision has already been made—it’s out of my—”

Misun’s domain descended on Bai Lin like an avalanche, causing her to yelp. The princess simply held her under than oppressive aura for a moment, glaring as Bai Lin swallowed hard and sweat nervously. Only when Bai Lin finally worked up the courage to open her mouth to speak again did Misun cut her off again by tossing a pair of severed heads to the ground at her feet—the fiends from the pass.

“I’ve already had to clean up your garbage, Bai! If you think I’m going to subject myself to your pitiful authority when your family can’t even be bothered to send the true head of the clan despite apparently expecting us, then you are as delusional as the ones at your feet were when they attacked us. I promise you that trying to force the issue won’t go any better for you than it did for them.”

As Bai Lin stared in open horror at the gruesome sight, visibly shaking under Seong Misun’s threats, it finally clicked for her. Jia knew what had been bothering her this entire time. She had built Bai Lin up as a grand foe—someone she’d sworn revenge on, a mortal enemy, a nemesis—but the truth was far more disappointing.

Bai Lin was just another petty tyrant in the making. Another Yan Zhihao. She had been relaxed because she simply didn’t understand—couldn’t comprehend how little control she actually had. Now, faced with that lack of control, she was crumbling.

“P-Princess—no, Your Highness, please see reason! I don’t have the authority to countermand—”

Misun redoubled the oppressive force of her domain, and sneered at Bai Lin.

“See reason?! Now you doubt my very sanity? Enough of this—I’m done being insulted by nobodies. I haven’t forgotten your treatment of my people during the Grand Tournament—do you think I’m going to subject them to your hospitality after that? Your land?

“No. As soon as we’re done here, I’m casting a grand spell to transport our entire party directly to our destination. Rally your elders and stop us if you dare. I’ll end your entire filthy line, you disgusting little pest.”

Jia had to suppress a laugh at the way Bai Lin was shaking. Misun was laying it on a little thick, but it was clearly having the intended effect. Master Ienaga stepped forward and bowed politely.

“Your Highness, there’s no need to get so heated. Lady Bai Lin may not have been my most attentive student, but she is still one of my former disciples—I’d ask you to grant her a measure of clemency. Perhaps we can come to a compromise?”

Seong Misun scoffed.

“It’s only out of my respect for you that I even entertain the suggestion, Master Ienaga. What do you suggest?”

Ienaga turned to Bai Lin.

“Lady Bai, you have personally met most of the people in our party, and as your former instructor, I can vet the rest. Surely that’s enough to grant us passage through your land? I can guarantee that we will not violate your sovereignty, and we will allow an escort to ensure that we cause no harm.”

Bai Lin gritted her teeth, her face twisting into an ugly grimace.

“Fine! Take this lot and be on your way, then! However, The Great Labyrinthine Forest of Unbreakable Threads will not forget this rudeness!”

Misun snorted derisively and turned on her heel to leave, while Master Ienaga bowed politely before following behind her. Jia stepped forward—technically she still had her own role to play—and bowed deeply.

“Thank you for your understanding, Lady Bai Lin. I apologize on behalf of our alliance for any trouble our representatives may have brought.”

Bai Lin scowled at her.

“Don’t think I don’t realize what this was, Lee Jia. You lesser creatures are all the same. Animals playing at being human—eagerly grasping that which the heavens have rightfully denied you. You wield your connections like a club, but one day—sooner than you think—you will find yourself alone, without the shadow of a more powerful ally to hide within.

“I hope I’m there when it happens. I will relish seeing you put into your rightful place. Perhaps I’ll even be lucky enough to be the one to do it myself. Wouldn’t that be lovely?”

Jia offered Bai Lin a reflection of her own cruel smile.

“I will await that day with eager anticipation. Until then, Lady Bai, farewell.”

As they hurried out of the sect grounds and made for the edge of town, Jia glanced nervously back at the group of Labyrinthine Forest cultivators that had replaced their previous escort.

“Is it really that easy? I was expecting a lot more.”

Misun huffed.

“No. Don’t let your guard down yet. Thanks to someone making huge concessions, we still have to make it across very hostile territory on foot with an escort that’s most likely going to try to lead us into an ambush.”

Ienaga sighed.

“It was wise to avoid playing into their hand, but pushing too hard could have started a war. Still, I agree with Princess Seong—I don’t think our conflict with Bai is over yet.”

Eui fell into step next to Jia and shook her head.

“No kidding. There’s a lot that didn’t add up about that whole thing. How did they know we were coming? If they did, then why didn’t they have a more significant force than just Bai Lin and her cronies to intercept us? Why didn’t she bring up my condition to the Demon Hunters?”

Seong Misun nodded.

“This whole thing stinks of imperial scheming. I think Bai Lin was a test of some kind, or perhaps bait. She wasn’t meant to be a true obstacle—just another pawn in a larger game.”

Jia grimaced.

“I don’t really like the sound of that. What do we do?”

“Nothing, for now. We proceed as planned and make no compromises for our ‘escorts.’ There’s no use speculating about whatever they have prepared for us now, so we’ll just have to be ready for anything and deal with it as we go. Ancestors, we should have just killed those damn cultivators.”

Ienaga shook her head.

“That would have put us in an even worse position, I think. We handled the situation as well as we could have, but we’re definitely on the back foot. Let’s move quickly.”

They spent the next week traveling at the fastest pace that the group could manage, much to the chagrin of their escort. Every settlement they came across, the Labyrinthine Forest cultivators would ask to stop, and every time Ienaga refused to so much as enter the town, leading the group around to bypass each one entirely.

That didn’t stop their escort from sending someone into town to report on their progress—something that Rika had confirmed by following them each time. Ienaga tried to prevent that by increasing the pace as they passed towns, but unfortunately their slowest members couldn’t handle such a pace even without the escort slowing them down.

The entire time, Jia was jumping at every shadow, worried that the next milestone would be hiding an ambush from Clan Bai, or a squad of Demon Hunters coming after Eui, or even the Awakening Dragon Sect coming to seek their revenge.

They’d traveled through Qin mostly unmolested so far, yet the closer they got to their destination, the more Jia feared that something was going to go wrong.

But as they arrived at the final checkpoint before their destination, it seemed that her fears were going to go unrealized. Remembering how badly things had turned out when she’d ignored such a severe premonition before the academy was overrun by extra-dimensional demons, Jia confided in Ienaga.

“Master, am I missing something? I thought that we’d be attacked or ambushed or...something. But this has been the cleanest leg of our entire journey!”

Master Ienaga smiled sympathetically.

“You’re right to be concerned, but sometimes things really do just go better than expected.”

“Since when?!”

Ienaga chuckled, but before she could answer, Seong Misun interjected.

“I’m with Lee Jia on this one. The fact that nothing has happened is suspicious. I’d be more comfortable if we had been attacked. As it is, I worry that we’re simply already where our enemies want us.”

Jia frowned.

“This was meant to be a private conversation.”

“Then you should have had it privately. Ienaga, how do you think we should proceed from here? If they’re planning something, it’s now or never.”

Master Ienaga shrugged.

“There’s nothing left to do, really. Prepare to flee north if we must, but otherwise all we can do is react to whatever we encounter. I’m cautiously optimistic, though—Qin cultivators care a great deal about appearances and we’ve done well to present ourselves legitimately.”

Jia frowned. It wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but she couldn’t think of anything better. She hoped that Ienaga was right—she was looking forward to finally being able to relax again.