Qingge was ducked behind a pile of crates and waited. She was so close. After several wrong turns, dead ends and close calls with roaming bandits, she was pretty sure that she had found the tunnel that she had originally been brought through. She’d never seen it, but she had paid close attention when the old woman had carried her, so she remembered and recognized the turns and distances they had taken.

Unfortunately, the news of the attack had seemingly not traveled back here, so right in front of her way out of here, two guards were sitting at a table, drinking and playing dice. Qingge had already spent five minutes contemplating the best course of action, and she still wasn’t sure what to do.

Sneaking past them was out of question; they were positioned right in the center of the tunnel and there was no cover to utilize. She wasn’t confident that she could defeat them either because she didn’t know how strong they were, meaning that the risk was just too high. So far, outrunning them seemed like the best shot she had, she was quick on her feet, and they were weighed down by their weapons. That was risky as well though, because she’d still need to search the tunnels for the exit and if they chose to pursue her, that was a no-go.

Just as she was about to make a decision, Qingge’s luck decided to kick in. That, or it were the masses alcohol these two were downing.

“Ugh, I really need to piss.”

“Well fuck off then, you’re not doing it here! Our shift is still like four hours long.”

“Sure, sure. Let me just refill my mug, I need it for the way.”

“You’re a… hicc… damn drunkard, you know that?”

“You’re one to talk…”

With that, the guard trudged away, mumbling something about the other’s mother.

Now this was an opportunity if Qingge ever saw one. Sneaking past two pairs of eyes seated opposite from another was beyond her, but sneaking past one, apparently a very drunk one at that, that sounded like something she could manage.

Once the second guard had wandered out of sight, she didn’t waste any time. She left her hiding place and slowly creeped along the wall. The guard’s entire attention was focused on rigging the pack of cards before him with the subtlety of a small child, so she made it past him without a problem.

She was already down the hall, about to turn a corner when he suddenly called out.

“Hey, you! What are you doing there?”

Shit!

And then he was already running at her. Qingge spontaneously decided to fight instead of running. That way, she still benefited from the fact that he was alone right now.

She walked around the corner and then turned, preparing herself to strike as soon as he got into range. Drunk as he was, he fell right for it.

That was about where the good things ended though, because Qingge misjudged the timing of her attack. Her attack only grazed the back of his head, enough to stagger him but not to decide the battle. Qingge jumped backwards trying to dodge as he retaliated with a swing of his sword, but she wasn’t fast enough. The hit grazed her shoulder, tearing through her clothing and drawing blood. The wound wasn’t too deep, but she could still immediately feel a searingly hot pain rising.

This was bad, very bad. Since she lacked a weapon, she was completely outranged and also on a timer until the other guard returned. Her only option was to go on the offense. She closed the distance, barely ducked another slash and then tackled her opponent, throwing them both to the ground, and luckily getting him to drop his sword.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

What ensued was the opposite of what one might imagine two cultivators fighting to look like. Instead of gracefully exchanging blows with perfect martial techniques, the two punched, kicked and wrestled, each trying to subdue the other with all they had.

Qingge was quicker and more accurate, but her opponent had the advantage in weight and toughness. In sum, they were very evenly matched. After what felt like an eternity but was actually just a couple of minutes, Qingge was feeling her strength quickly dwindle when she suddenly noticed the sword laying just a meter away from them.

She reached out for, taking several bad hits to the face as a result. When she finally managed to grasp it, she drew it back with everything she had, hitting her opponent in the side. The man recoiled, giving her just enough room to perform a proper strike. This time, she hit the throat.

Blood sprayed in all directions, mixing with the one from the wound in her shoulder and with and with a choked gasp, the man collapsed on top of her. Using the last bit of strength she had left, Qingge heaved the lifeless body off of her. Then she just lay there, breathing heavily while staring at the ceiling.

She had never taken a life before. She had known that she might one day have to, but nothing could truly prepare her for this. She would have expected a strong wave of emotions right now but instead she just felt… strangely empty. Like some part of her was missing, cut off alongside her opponent’s life.

It was… just… there was nothing in her mind that could properly describe it. She wanted to scream; she wanted to run. Or rather, she wanted to want that. But she couldn’t. Somehow, she couldn’t. Everything felt so meaningless. Whas this what killing was like? Was this what everyone was trying to get stronger for? For this? She couldn’t understand.

Qingge clenched her fist and composed herself. She needed to snap out of it. She couldn’t stay here. There was still another guard that would come back any minute now and notice his colleague’s absence. He would undoubtedly come over here to check. She needed to get out of here before that happened. As fast as possible.

Gathering what energy she had left, she forced herself to stand up and start walking. Her right hand was still tightly wrapped around the hilt of the sword as she left the scene of battle behind in the darkness.

…

Qingge trudged and stumbled through the tunnels, looking for an exit that she didn’t know the looks off; driven only by her strength of will and the constant fear of a pursuer. One hand carried the sword, the other clutched her wounded shoulder that was hurting more with every passing minute.

…

Should she turn left, or right? Should she keep going straight ahead? She didn’t know anymore. What if she got lost down here? What if nobody found her? What if that was her end?

…

What was that noise? Was someone there? Was it an animal? Or was it just a figment of her imagination? Qingge looked around but couldn’t spot anything. So, she did the only thing she could. She continued on.

…

Her sense of time was gone, it felt like she had been down here forever. Every now and again she stopped for a while, leaning against a wall to rest a little and listen for distant noises.

…

Dripping water, the occasional buzzing insect… and then, suddenly, footsteps. This time, they weren’t imagined, that was for sure. She held her breath. Moments later, she could see a distant shimmer of light. Someone was approaching.

Qingge bit her lip. This couldn’t be true. She was tired, too tired to run and there was nowhere to hide, not with the trail of blood that she left behind. Standing up straight, she grabbed the sword with both hands and braced herself. She’d wouldn’t go down without a fight.

When the approaching person came around the corner, she had to squint, so blindingly bright was the light after her time in the dark. Before she could properly see anything, the steps quickened and a familiar voice called out:

“Qingge?”

A world of pressure fell off of her. The sword slipped from her tired hands and clankingly fell to the ground. Before Qingge could follow it, the steady arms of Elder Wei caught her in a tight embrace.

“Heavens above, what happened to you? Everything is alright. You’re safe.”

She was safe.

“Everything. Is. Fine. You can rest now.”

She could rest.

Qingge felt that Elder Wei made her drink something, she felt that he picked her up and started carrying her back the way he came. But it was like she was just a distant observer, separated from it all by a thick veil of her own consciousness.

She was warm and comfortable, nothing hurt anymore. And slowly, everything faded away.