Qingge wasn’t here. What had started out as a mildly bad feeling when she hadn’t been there to greet them and had slowly built up into serious paranoia while they searched the house for her was quickly morphing into a wild panic.

She wasn’t here. Heavens above, she wasn’t here! Yang tried to breathe deeply and slowly. It didn’t help. The thoughts kept coming.

Qingge wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t forgetful, nor was she reckless. She knew exactly where her limits lay and what her absence here would imply. Thus, there was no explanation for the fact that she wasn’t here! No explanation other than something having gone seriously wrong. Terribly wrong.

They shouldn’t have split up! It was his fault; the Dao be damned! He was her bodyguard. Preventing her from getting in harms way was his task. How could he have been so reckless? By the ancestors, what had happened?

Yang didn’t want to think about it. He did anyways because it wasn’t like he had a choice. Like he had time to relax and calm his feelings. He needed to act. Now.

“Three of you head back to the pavilion as fast as you can. Let nobody in and nobody out, I don’t give a damn about your disguise. The rest of you, gear up and get ready. Once you’re done, head to the warehouse and bring my armor. I’m heading to the Li Family to ask for assistance. Whether I get it or not, we’re storming tonight. Make haste!”

With that, Yang stormed out of the door, leaving the others behind. As soon as he was out in the open, he gathered his strength and jumped straight onto the next roof. No time to use the streets. Then he started to run.

Achieving the unification of body and soul wasn’t an easy task, it was in fact brutally difficult. There was a reason why most soul cultivators considered it the final frontier of their cultivation journey. But those who did it changed so fundamentally that it was hard to wrap one’s head around the fact that they too had once started out as mere mortals.

As Yang shot across the roofs of the nightly city, barely spending one or two seconds on each before returning to the air, he could not admire the inhuman speed he was moving at. In fact, he didn’t feel satisfied at all. He wanted to be faster, even faster.

A minute had not passed since his departure when he landed in the middle of the Li-Estate’s courtyard, almost giving the singular patrolling guard a heart attack.

“WHAT THE… Who?”

“I need to see the patriarch. Right now.”

“Cultivator Yang? I… I’m sorry, I didn’t… “

The man started but stopped himself when a combination of taking in what he had just heard and seeing Yang’s stressed impression made it dawn on him, that this was probably rather serious.

“Never mind, follow me. I’ll get you there.”

With that, the two were off, quickly crossing a few rooms and hallways before arriving at a closed door. The guard hesitated two long seconds before firmly knocking.

“Yes?”

“Patriarch Li, Cultivator Yang urgently wishes to speak to you.

“Come in.”

The Guard opened the door for Yang who stepped inside, only to stop in his tracks when he realized that the patriarch was in the company of Elder Wei. The latter examined him with a curious look before speaking up.

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“Yang, you don’t look so good. Has something happened?”

“Elder Wei…”

Yang stared at the floor.

“Qingge… has gone missing. We assume she has been captured.”

“Captured… by whom?”

“The organization we are investigating. We were… she was… I wasn’t with her… We…”

Before Yang could properly vocalize what had happened, Elder Wei interjected.

“No need to explain, at least not right now. Do you have any idea where she might be held?”

“We know their hideout… probably… and the place she disappeared.”

“That should suffice. Since you came here, I assume you have a plan?”

“I was going to order an attack on both locations tonight.”

“I see. I understand your need for urgency. Niung, could you…”

“No need to ask. If you can give me an hour, I’ll ready an attack force.”

“Thank you. Yang, could you fill me in on the details in the meantime?”

“As you command, Elder.”

…

Yang marched through the streets at the head of what could only be called a small army. In just a single hour, in the middle of the night, the Niang Li had called forth and organized over a hundred well-armed men. Some of them were functionaries of the family itself while others were part of the city guard and the military.

Yang didn’t spend much thought on it, but this was a massive show of force, a true testament to the Li Family’s power. It was quite apparent why they didn’t need to participate in the petty politicking that the other families seemed so fond of and were still considered one of the great houses.

Niung Li himself wasn’t with the force. The patriarch was much too old to join the fight himself so he had handed command over to Yang. They were headed towards the warehouse, while Elder Wei would take over at the pavilion. The man had correctly pointed out that he didn’t need any assistance.

Yang’s nerves had calmed down considerably in the meantime. He was still anxious but he didn’t let that influence his thoughts or actions now that there was something he could actually do. Instead, the military part of his mind had taken over, entirely focused on how he could best lead this offense without needlessly endangering any of the people below him.

He had no idea how many enemies they would have to deal with, but considering the level of organization this group had, he didn’t expect them to be weak. Nevertheless, he was carefully confident now that he had a group of this size on his side.

Some time and several severely scared passersby later, they reached the warehouse.

“Senior Yang! We were wondering what was taking you so long. But it seems you didn’t idle about.”

“No, I didn’t. Are you all ready?”

“Of course, we are. We have your armor right here.”

“Thank you.”

Yang immediately started putting it on. In the stories and legends of mortals, cultivators were said to fight with nothing but their robes on, but that was naturally nothing but imagination run wild. They would be pretty stupid to forego the protection of leather and steel.

The set Yang had brought wasn’t his fully plated war-armor but a lighter, more flexible armor that was easier to transport. It was still engraved with several enchantments though, that would make it nigh-impossible for a normal blade to pierce it.

“What about the pavilion? Is there also a force that will attack there?”

“No need to worry about that, Elder Wei is personally headed there.”

“The Elder himself? Yeah, you don’t have to tell me not to worry.”

Once Yang had fully donned his armor, he turned to the group behind them and addressed them in a lout voice.

“Attention everyone! There are three objectives to this attack. First is a rescue. The enemy has captured a woman by the name if Qingge. She is of average height, has brown hair and green eyes. Many of you already know her.

“Second objective is securing the location. That means we work through this place methodically. I want nobody to charge through recklessly, no room stays unaccounted for. A group will stay behind at the entrance and capture anybody who attempts to flee. Don’t needlessly kill, any prisoner is valuable, but don’t hesitate either. Your own safety is paramount, don’t take any unnecessary risks.

“The third objective is the capture of the leadership. If in any way possible, we take them alive. I’ll personally lead the charge so I’ll see to that myself if possible.

“If they aren’t fools, they’ll have noticed us already, so we have no time to waste. Me and my group will break in first, the rest of you will surround the building and advance orderly once we have gained enough ground inside.

“May luck and bravery be on your side, everyone.”

With that, Yang drew his sword, a long and broad blade meant to be used with both hands, lifted it high above his head and pointed its tip towards the warehouse. Then he raised his voice one more time.

“Forward!”