~~~

It began as a slight sense of discomfort, something that could easily be attributed to how exhausted he was after his battle with that damnable Liu Jin. That’s why Han didn’t pay any attention to it at first. Even though the feeling persisted after his injuries were treated, Han was content to ignore it, confident it would go away in time.

It did not go away.

His body is free of injuries. There are no foreign substances in his body. His Qi has completely recovered.

And yet, he feels ill.

Every day, his condition grows worse. It has festered and grown to the point it is almost painful. When he sleeps. When he fights. When he eats. No matter what he does, Han cannot escape the feeling of wrongness that accompanies his every moment.

“Well, look who it is! The cowardly dog who left all his men behind!”

Someone laughs at him. Han stops walking.

“You have something to say, Ko?” Han asks, trying to make his voice sound gruff and threatening. In this, his condition is somewhat helpful. It gives him enough anger to overcome the limitations of his age.

“I think I just did,” Ko says, grinning in an ape-ish way. All around the training yard, people stop to listen.

Ko is a large man with a thick, black beard. A fellow raider and quite a bloodthirsty one at that. Rumors say he’s a bastard of General Murong, but those rumors are only that, rumors. If every person thought to be a bastard of Murong Bang was one, half the army would come from his loins.

Han knows for a fact that’s not possible. As many vices as Murong Bang has, women do not seem to be one of them. He has a collection, certainly, but he has it only because he’s expected to have it. The man rarely indulges in them.

“Everyone already heard what happened,” Ko says, raising his voice. “You were beaten like a dog and lost your men to border trash! How could one of us be so pathetic?”

Ko’s grin grows, stretching wide over his bearded face.

“Then again, you ain’t one of us, eh kid? Not really. You’re just a stray that wandered in.”

“The general accepted me into his army, and the general has already punished me for my failures,” Han says, his fists clenched. “Do you have a problem with the general’s judgment?”

For other people, that would have been enough to make them back down. The mere insinuation that they disagreed with General Murong would have sent them running for the hills.

Unfortunately, Ko is no coward.

“Always hiding behind General Murong,” he says, making Han grimace. “That’s all you know how to do, isn’t it? You’re like a pet. Isn’t he precious, men? So young and already house-trained.”

Many laugh. Han’s face grows red.

He wonders if this is why General Murong was so light when punishing him. He had presented himself to the general expecting torture, only omitting the presence of that damned Liu Jin when giving his report because even admitting Liu Jin’s existence felt like an affront to his pride.

However, when Han finished his report, the general laughed at him and encouraged the rest of the room to laugh with him. That and a thousand lashes were the punishment Han received for his failure. At the time, he had been confused, but by giving him such a light punishment, General Murong might as well have set the entire camp against him.

However, Han does not intend to let himself be humiliated by the likes of Ko.

[Severing Palm]

~~~

“I am surprised you did not kill him.”

“Shut up,” Han says, wincing as Bright Sword sews his wound shut. “It’s not like I didn’t try. The bastard had it coming.”

“But?” Bright Sword prompts.

“...I couldn’t,” Han admits in a low voice. “I tried, but it was like I couldn’t use my full power no matter how much I wanted to.”

It is not something Han would admit to anyone else. To admit weakness is to put yourself at someone’s mercy. However, Bright Sword has always struck Han as a unique existence in Murong Bang’s army. Unlike the other soldiers, Bright Sword wears little armor and only ever uses the sword at his side. He is always clean-shaven and immaculate, handsome and completely untouched by the rigors of the battlefield or life at camp.

Bright Sword is also far more knowledgeable than anyone else. Else, Han would not have come to him for help.

“I see.” Bright Sword hums and rubs his chin. “Interesting.”

“Interesting? Is that what you have to say?” Han says, angrily rising to his feet. “I’m not here to amuse you! I want answers, damn it!”

Bright Sword does not shout.

Bright Sword does not speak.

Bright Sword does not move a muscle.

Han immediately sits down and lowers his head. “I am sorry,” he says. “Forgive me. I spoke poorly.”

To admit weakness is to put yourself at someone’s mercy? How foolish of him. Bright Sword is in the Ninth Level of the Heaven Realm. He is the only complete Heaven Realm cultivator Murong Bang has never forced to step into the Renegade Realm.

Han is always at Bright Sword’s mercy.

“I accept your apology,” Bright Sword says. “As unpleasant as this might be, I want you to tell me everything about your fight at the border. Even seemingly minor details will be appreciated.”

Han does. He tells Bright Sword everything about his fight with Liu Jin. When he is done, Bright Sword does not look surprised or thoughtful. It feels more like Han just confirmed what Bright Sword suspected from the start.

“How curious. He was able to detect your Dao.”

“You knew?” Han asks.

“Naturally,” Bright Sword replies. “You have been tapping into it for quite some time now.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Han asks, unable to stop himself from raising his voice once more. “Had I known, I could have won!”

“Your Dao is incomplete,” Bright Sword says. “You are young, inexperienced, and weak. That you can tap into it at all is worthy of praise, but that doesn’t change the truth. Your Dao has not fully formed, meaning there are still different paths that you can take. Had General Murong or I made you aware of it, there is no telling what could have happened. We could have easily sabotaged your growth without meaning to.”

“The general kn…” Han cuts himself off and snorts. “What am I saying? Of course, he knew.”

No wonder General Murong lets him get away with so much.

“Indeed,” Bright Sword says. “However, that is not important. What matters is you fought someone quite devious.”

“He did this then?” Han narrows his eyes. “What is it? Poison?”

“It’s your Dao.”

“What?”

“Your Dao,” Bright Sword repeats. “You are being damaged by your own Dao. Or rather, you have been made to betray your Dao. Unable to bear the contradiction between your actions and your Dao, you have begun deteriorating.”

“Ridiculous! How can I betray my Dao if I don’t even know what it is?!”

“You might not know, but you have a way of life you adhere to. We all have,” Bright Sword says. “Call it a code. Call it morals. Call it rules. It does not matter. We act in a way that is consistent with ourselves. When you encountered this Liu Jin, you boasted of your beliefs. You belittled him for his weakness and exalted yourself.”

Bright Sword pauses, letting the weight of his words sink in before continuing.

“What happened next?”

The question makes Han recoil.

“I ran away,” Han admits.

“No,” Bright Sword says. “If you had run away, there would have been no problem. That’s not what happened. You declared your intention to kill this Liu Jin. You recognized him as a threat to your existence. When you realized you could not reliably kill him, you decided to retreat. The choice is not inconsistent with you. The problem is what this Liu Jin did next.”

“What he did?” Han echoes.

“He stopped you,” Bright Sword says. “He stopped, held you at his mercy, and let you go. You did not run away. You were allowed to leave. You did not cut yourself off from him. He cast you away.”

As Bright Sword gives voice to the truth, Han squeezes his chest in pain.

“The moment you ran away in those exact circumstances, you incurred a grievous wound, and this Liu Jin knew that would happen,” Bright Sword continues, not moving to help Han. “Like I said, it was quite devious of him. It is not expected for someone so young to have such insight into the ways of Dao. Even if he had the knowledge, being able to create that exact situation after merely having glimpsed your Dao is not something most people can do.”

“Wh-What do I need to do? How do I fix this?”

Bright Sword blinks.

“Is it not obvious? Have you not already realized the truth of the matter? Kill him.”

~~~

Extra Scene: Dangers in the Road

~~~

“Step outside! Take off your valuables and leave them behind!”

Rather than quaking in fear at the sudden appearance of bandits, those inside the Flame-Wheeled Wagons sigh and roll their eyes. A few crack their knuckles.

It is the third time already.

To the surprise of many, Murong Bang’s emissary arrives, and the mission can proceed as planned. They had flown on the Flame-Wheeled Wagons to the border, but the journey that followed was made at ground level to avoid startling anyone. This, unfortunately, left them exposed to the dangers of the road.

Not that those dangers have been any dangerous so far.

“I’ll take care of it this time, Brother Qing,” Ten says, raising his hand eagerly. Liu Jin shakes his head.

“No,” he says. “I’ll do it.”

“Brother Qing, you don’t need to bother yourself with this rabble!”

“I’ll do it,” Liu Jin repeats, rising to his feet and opening the door. “It is not just the bandits that need to be dealt with.”

“Ha! So you finally come out of hiding!” One of the bandits, likely their leader, yells at him. There are six of them in total. “If you kowtow to me right now, this daddy will-”

“How foolish are you?”

His question stuns the bandits into silence.

“Can you not feel the difference in our strength?” Liu Jin asks with genuine puzzlement in his voice.

Lady Bai Wen might be using a special ring to hide her Qi, but that still leaves a group of people where the weakest among them is in the Spirit Realm.

“Are you perhaps untrained? Is that it? Have you somehow never learned to sense Qi? Or perhaps you simply lack a frame of reference? Are you truly so deficient that you cannot sense that every single person inside those wagons is stronger than the lot of you?”

The bandit leader’s face turns red. He opens his mouth.

His men are defeated before he gets a single word out. The bandit leader can only gape at the scene.

“Run,” Liu Jin tells him. “Do not test me.”

The man flees, not that Liu Jin is watching him anymore. He marches straight to their guide, who has watched the proceedings with an amused smile.

“This is the third bandit group,” Liu Jin says.

“It seems that way, yes.”

“One might find it suspicious we keep running into very stupid bandits.”

“One might.”

Liu Jin stares at the stone-faced soldier.

“The information of our route was deliberately leaked, was it not? I assume Murong Bang or someone else wanted to see how we’d react?”

“I’m a soldier,” their guide says, shrugging his shoulders. “Complicated things like that are not my business.”

“I see. How brave of you. Usually, one would naturally fear that his passengers might take their anger out on him.”

The soldier smirks confidently.

“You can’t do anything to me. I am your guide to the capital. Without me, you will not get there in one piece.”

“I see.” Liu Jin rubs his chin and nods. “That is indeed a strong argument. However, consider this.”

A dozen consecutive strikes land on the soldier’s chest.

“...what?”

The soldier blinks and looks at himself. He is unharmed. There is no pain. His armor is not even dented. Nevertheless, he feels something has changed. He looks at Liu Jin with suspicion in his eyes.

“What did you do to me?”

“Impotence,” Liu Jin replies.

The soldier pales. “What?!”

“I struck your acupoints in such a way that it will cause impotence,” Liu Jin explains matter-of-factly. “It is surprisingly easy when you understand the position of every acupoint in the body.”

“You’re lying!” The man shouts, one hand moving to protect his crotch. “You’re lying… right? It’s a joke! Right?”

“I am afraid not,” Liu Jin replies. “You will not be engaging in recreational activities anytime soon. Perhaps not ever.”

“Wait!” The soldier says, voice trembling. “I’ll avoid all the bandits from now on. I’ll head straight to the capital. No detours. Just undo this! Please!”

Liu Jin thinks it over. Personally, he’d prefer to take care of every bandit group between here and the capital. Still, he cannot waste time right now. The priority is meeting Murong Bang.

“Very well.”

~~~

~~~