“How?” A simple statement without adornments on a neutral face only highlighted its meaningfulness.

Danlu thinned his lips. He had wanted to at least hide it until the day was over. “The pair was one of the headquarters’ drivers. A job came in for them to transport a man to Shangsuo Province and back, but both were later found dead and reported to the local magistrate. The coroner at the Shangsuo Prefectural Government Office identified blood loss from damaged throats.” His voice sank with his heart as he spoke.

“The customer?” Yeon raised.

“The customer returned to Luoyi alone. The man is a martial artist from the North River Training Hall who refuses to cooperate.“

Her eyes narrowed. “Martial artist… training hall? Where is it?”

He waved both hands out. “Hold on! Although the estate still disregards us because of the Fourth Master, the Eighth Lady agreed to help our legal department pursue the case when I spoke to her during a visit. Everything is already being handled.”

“Handled? Doesn't what you’re saying already imply any Government Offices have dropped the case?”

Danlu pressed his teeth. “It's unlikely the man was the culprit.”

“No, instead the man refuses to speak about the culprit.” Yeon looked up and heaved a heavy breath. ”The Rivers and Lakes are where the laws of states fail to reach, but there is always an unspoken rule. They cannot involve the secular world in its violence. If they can’t govern themselves, even the greatest schools and sects will be treated as bandit camps and criminals.” She took a step forward. “Even if you don’t tell me, someone will know where the training hall is. I will go alone. You can tell the other two.”

Danlu stood watching her leave. He knew this would happen. Is there enough time to get Xiyun and still convince her before she finds the training hall? Then, he had another thought. The thought was his trust in Xiyun. So, he ran after Yeon.

...

After inquiries in the teahouses of North Luoyi, Yeon did find directions to the named training hall. At the final street before reaching it, Danlu’s hopes were realized when three figures blocked their path.

Xiyun stood with two family guards behind him. “Why?”

Yeon’s eyes were clear of clouding. “To seek justice is to seek an explanation.”

“Does that matter?”

She closed her eyes. “When my master first found me, I refused to learn from him no matter how much potential he said I had. Even without Mulsunhwan, I would become strong enough to protect those I love while remaining by their side. How could I abandon my family for so long just because I would be able to progress further in the future?” She opened them. “It is because on the Peninsula, no matter what state, the name of the Grandmaster is spoken with revere. No one dares to target those under Mulsunhwan’s protection. No one dares to cause trouble because the strong are principled. Likewise, the principal must become strong. Justice exists in the Rivers and Lakes. It will exist as long as there are those that value it. Its existence is the reason that I can be here right now. If I deny action, I deny my very existence. Are you here to stop me?”

Xiyun shook his head. “How would that even be possible?” He gestured towards Duan Sui and the senior guard behind. “It's easier to finish this up quickly.”

Yeon beamed a smile. Stepping past Xiyun she faced the closed dividing wall entrance of North River Training Hall.

Duan Sui glanced at his senior, asking through expression whether to stop them. The other guard shook his head. The Seventh Master, Eighth Master, and Mister Qiu had often done similar things years ago.

Yeon steadied her gaze. “Back home, we call this ‘kicking the gate’.”

Danlu walked up beside Xiyun. “Kicking the gate?”

“If someone kicks the gate of a school, it represents a challenge. One that must be accepted, because otherwise, it would mean accepting disrespect to the school’s predecessors.” She raised up her leg and slammed her foot against the door.

Thump!

The entire wall section shook. The gate creaked... and fell flat down from its broken hinges.

Everyone’s eyes grew larger. The widest belonged to Duan Sui.

Visible past the entrance was the yard, the training hall was made up of three buildings. Two open halls and a housing building. Near the middle, four young men sat on the ground gambling with dice gaped. Dice fell from the hands of one of them. At the commotion, half-dozen more people stuck their heads outside the halls to see what happened. They all saw a young lady frozen in place with her foot raised just where the gate used to be.

“Was that supposed to break?” Danlu broke the silence.

The spectating Duan Sui also raised an eyebrow. He also wanted to know.

Yeon quirked her lips up. “The gates I’m used to kicking are all reinforced precisely to prevent this. What is up with this gate?“

Xiyun nodded. “So this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

She pouted. “The martial halls in Seonryeo are never as disorganized as this place. On the Peninsula, the militaries of each state sponsor all of the different martial halls. That’s why there’s always harsh competition for better funding.”

From within the main hall, three men exited. A tall long-haired man, bald brawny man, and blind old man.

The blind old man swept his eyes over the five individuals. Ignoring the three youths, he focused on Duan Sui and the senior guard beside him. “You Xiao Family thugs! I already told you I know nothing. I left because of how horrible the service was. If they end up dying in the middle of nowhere, how is that my fault?”

“Thugs? Have all of you looked in a mirror! Tell us what happened to the two drivers,” Yeon said.

“You destroyed our gate!”

“This is now an affair of the Rivers and Lakes. This entire training hall might collapse by the time I’m done with it! It’s humiliating enough for me to even challenge this place.”

“Challenge? What challenge? I’m calling the city guards!”

“What about your school's respect?”

“Respect? What nonsense is that? Can I eat it?” Distress hid at the back of the old man’s mind. Considering how much money the Xiao Family could throw around, he would never attempt to actually take them on in a judicial court. It was lucky enough that the rumored Fourth Master ignored him. He already escaped any grounds for the Xiao Family to touch him. Now he needed to kick these people out and get them to lay off him. “I may be blind but are you people blind as well? What do I know about what killed those useless drivers.”

Yeon narrowed her eyes. “For someone blind to enter the Martial Path, your initial Perception should already be more sensitive than those at the peak. If you were going to use the excuse of being blind, why claim that you took off beforehand anyway?”

He prepared to raise his voice when he was interrupted.

“This is quite interesting,” a voice said.

The old man froze.

Stepping outside the housing building was a tall man in a green robe whose brown hair pulled back in a knot. “Fei Ling, Is this part of the festivities today?”

“Master Leung…” Blind Fei choked out.

Yeon raised an eyebrow at the newcomer.

The man noticed. “I am Leung Lakse, a disciple of the Bamboo Garden Sect, currently resting here. You people?”

“Fei Ling is a second-realm martial artist with the nickname Blind Fei. This man is a third-realm sword cultivator with the nickname of Mad Dog Leung,” The senior guard behind Xiyun whispered.

“I don’t recall any good experiences dealing with someone surnamed Fei,” Danlu commented.

She nodded. “Han Yeon, representing the Xiao Estate.”

“I believe I have a grasp of the conflict going on here,” Lakse said. “Fei Ling, accept her challenge.”

Blind Fei expression sank. “Why?”

“Because to be right is to be strong. So, prove you’re right.” He turned towards Yeon. “I will judge by the honor of Bamboo Garden. If you lose, the Xiao Family will never bother this man again. Also, they will repay five times the amount of this gate’s worth.”

Yeon restretched her arms. “This won’t take long.”

“No, this won’t be a single match. In the South, challenges between two parties in conflict are done in a certain way.”

She paused. “What?”

“Everything will be decided by the best of five matches.” He pointed to their group. “There are exactly five of you and plenty on the training hall's side.”

Immediately, Yeon looked towards the two guards. She on her own was guaranteed to win. The senior guard maintained a stoic expressionless face, only, his eyes rolled.

She sought Xiyun next.

“Let’s get this over with.”

…

The North River Training Hall’s people all stood at the back of the main hall, across from the ring. Xiyun’s party all stayed by the front entrance. Between them, Lakse sat on the large window still overlooking the housing building.

Lakse clapped his hand once. “By conventional rules, there will be no weapons. It will be considered a loss when a fighter touches the ground with anywhere other than their hands or feet, leaves the ring, or concedes. Each side will take turns presenting their fighter for the round. To be fair, the home side, North River, which has greater numbers will go first.”

Blind Fei waved his hand with a disgruntled expression. The bald and brawny man standing beside him took to the ring in the middle of the hall.

“Who to go first...” Yeon turned to the senior guard standing beside Duan Sui. “I don’t believe we’ve met back in the estate.”

The stoic guard glanced down. “I go by the family name, Dru.”

“Dru?” Her voice naturally directed to Xiyun.

“One of the old clans stemming from the ancestral tribes of the Plateau,” Xiyun offered as usual.

“The West’s Plateau?” She looked out of the window facing west as if she could see any further than where she was.

“Does the Ninth Master know?” Dru’s voice hitched.

“I only remember the name from the story of the Plateau’s ancestral legend. The marriage between a monkey and a demon,” Xiyun said.

Yeon’s eyebrow raised. “So the people on the Plateau are monkeys?”

“Monkeys that lost their fur and tail through time, or so it goes.”

Dru’s lips pursed to resist a slight smile. “Then I’ll go first. No one has to worry about losing.” Without another word, he entered the ring.

“Begin,” Lakse announced.

The brawny man immediately ran towards Dru.

Dru sucked in a long breath. Excluding Perception, he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. However, he knew no methods besides his cultivation method. He did not need them. Air filled his muscles. Energy coursed between his veins. His eyes did not need to focus, he practiced to always perform at his peak.

The brawny man sent a fist out, one that never reached.

In a single swift motion, Dru hand had grabbed the face of the man. In the next moment, the face of the training hall trainee pressed onto the ground.

“Down. The match goes to Xiao Estate,” Lakse said.

Dru dusted his hands and returned to stand beside Xiyun. “The family only hires professionals. These people are nothing.”

Both the cultivations of Dru and Duan Sui matched Yeon’s while being skilled in their own right. In the best of five matches, few things stopped them from winning the crucial three. The first match was easily taken care of.

Yeon folded her arms and sized up the other four in their party. “The five of us are incredibly lopsided. Two of us can’t fight, and the other three are stronger than anyone on the other side. Then again, this was expected from the start. The guards and I just need to win three matches. As long as Tian Ji remains on our side, we have this.”

“Tian Ji Horse Racing?” Xiyun said.

A story of a strategy used to defeat a king at a game of horse racing. When the king possessed three better, but not overwhelmingly superior, horses, a man still won by pitting their weakest horses against the king’s strongest, thereby winning the majority of matches by sacrificing one of them. In this case, both their group and the training hall took turns presenting the first fighter.

“You know the story?” she asked.

“It's written in both Records of the Grand Historian and Warring States Chronicles.”

Yeon didn’t need to pretend to know what those were. She simply nodded and stepped up to the stage. Since they had to go first this round, she decided to fight herself because she could handle anything unexpected the other side threw at her.

From North River’s side, the tall man entered the ring. He wore a black robe tied with a sash. He braided his straight hair in a single tail. “What an honor.”

“You recognized me?”

“Gyuwon of Chaegun. Although I’ve only heard the stories, I still recognize any name belonging to a disciple of Mulsunhwan. Despite what it seems, this training hall is still uncontested within Luoyi. It’s my current practice place, so I must at least seek to repay that much. Luckily, despite your fame, you are only the last disciple.”

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Yeon shook her head.

“Begin!”

Gyuwon did three light taps at his feet. Satisfied and without warning, in a single flow of movement, he kicked off the ground in three steps which formed a triangle. His foot raised up in the last step. All of his weight, nearly two times Yeon’s, poured to his soles.

Yeon had already raised both arms in a blocking stance to meet the kick.

The two sides impacted, then the scene froze while time continued flowing.

The man blinked. Did I kick a wall?

Yeon’s own feet had not moved a single grain of distance. They were stuck in place. The strength which attempted to push her back went to further stabilize her position.

A nostalgic smile crossed her face. The Peninsula also celebrated their own festival today which, instead of dragon boat races, included the famed exhibition tournaments. She recognized the common style she has seen in those, Flying Concentration. Many of its forms relied on breaking balance, something useless against her.

“What happened to your luck?” Her hand had since gripped his ankle at the moment of contact. A clutch a third-realm cultivator had previously found impossible to escape from.

Sweat dripped from Gyuwon’s temples. On one leg and attempting to devise a way to untrap his foot, he was given an escape. He found himself in the air.

“Today is not your day.”

The man soared out of the west window, crashing into the dirt beyond the training hall.

Mimicking Dru, Yeon dusted her hands and returned to her side.

On the other window, Lakse quirked an eyebrow up. A slim smile crossed his face. “The second match also goes to the Xiao Estate. They need one more to win. North River, you are not doing so well.”

Blind Fei grounded his teeth and turned behind him. “Fatty Deoi get out there!”

A lumbering man twice Blind Fei’s height stood up from a sitting rest against the back wall. His belly was large but more prominent were two arms that had muscles resembling a tree trunk and its bark. “Ten taels,” he said wistfully.

“Fine, ten taels.”

Deoi blinked. “Fifty taels.”

Blind Fei leveled a gaze on him.

“It was worth a try.” Deoi shrugged, stepping into the ring.

Yeon and Duan Sui watched from their side. At this point, Xiyun had sat down against the entrance, spectating. He was out of his depth, but Yeon already knew what she was doing.

“Normally you would go up and end this, but with his build, he obviously practices a soft-grapple style. Duan Sui, this doesn't look suitable for you,“ Yeon said.

Duan Sui shrugged.

Yeon’s eyes lit up. “You’re up Danlu.”

With a wide smile, Danlu entered the ring. He immediately knew what he had to do. “I’ll pay you fifty taels if you give up.”

Deoi returned a weary smile. “One hundred taels.” He opened his mouth before Danlu spoke again. “Five hundred taels.”

Danlu smacked his lips closed. “Fine, be that way. I’ll end this match so fast, you won’t even know what hit you.”

“Start,” Lakse said.

“I give up!” Danlu yelled at the top of his lungs.

The words echoed in the hall.

He dusted off his own hands and turned around. He smiled constantly.

“Don’t act so proud,” Yeon commented.

“Why not?”

“By Xiao Estate’s concede, the match goes to North River,“ Lakse said dispassionately. “The score is two to one.”

Deoi returned and dropped down into his still-warm spot, causing the ground to shake. “I still expect my ten taels.” He closed his eyes and returned a light rest.

Blind Fei’s gut twisted as he watched Duan Sui nonchalantly step into the ring. Is this it? He had the highest seniority within the training hall, but even he considered Gyuwon as the strongest. Was the training hall really this weak? Were the simple guards of the Xiao Family really better than all of them? There wasn’t another second-realm martial artist left beside himself.

The young men sitting on their side spectating were no better than an audience watching a show. When they noticed Fei Ling’s terse gaze, they simply showed an optimistic smile at the prospects of being put in a match. They treated this as any other challenge from the other training halls. No one except for him knew the real stakes. There existed a reason the Mad Dog was mad.

“Fei Ling,” Lakse said.

He shivered. “What is it, Master Leung?”

“Remember that idea I told you about? If we do it now, I’ll spare your life if the brat causes you to lose.”

“What’s the matter?” Yeon raised.

Lakse casually waved his hands. “I am simply reminding Fei Ling of his options. Anyone training here except for myself, the judge, could be considered a part of North River’s side.”

Blind Fei raised his voice. “I need to go get the next fighter. I’ll return in an incense stick of time.”

…

Shuixian Juan sat alone in her room. Her legs crossed, eyes closed, and back straightened. She engaged in introspection.

Back at Bamboo Garden, they expected the disciples to cultivate, so she did. Now, she was expected to grow stronger, so she would try as well.

As pointless as the world was, she still possessed a slim desire to live. There was still a reason left before she could lay down and die without anything holding her back. A debt to be repaid.

In her mind was an image of a sword. Silver. Straight. A simple hilt and a simple blade. Yet, no matter what, the form of the sword remained a blur.

She still didn’t have a sword. Until she proved capable of either Sword Control, Sword Intent, or Sword Body, she was not allowed by Lakse to even recreate a new false sword. Both Sword Intent and Sword Body were applications usually only Doubtless Realm sword cultivators were capable of. The remaining, Sword Control, was the innate control method most Union Path cultivators learn. However, it required a sword to learn, something she would only be allowed to have if she succeeded. It was either impossible or a looping paradox from the start.

A door opened to disrupt her thoughts. “Fei Ling?”

The man creased his lips, thinking of what to say. “Your... teacher wants you to participate in a fight for the training hall.”

She stood up and stepped past him. The next training task has arrived. Lakse did say prepare to begin sparing soon.

Entering the main hall, she ignored the sight of people and looked to the window. Lakse only mouthed a single word. ‘Win’.

Trudging her feet towards the ring where a bearded man in a black uniform stood, she frowned as she assessed his strength. Now, she was simply a girl incapable of using Separation Sword. In other words, she had nothing to rely on. If her talent for martial arts alone were any good, she would have entered the Martial Path by now.

Stopping inside the ring, Shuixian Juan nodded.

The man shifted his brows. “Older than the Young Master but perhaps younger than Miss Han. Are you confident? Does this type of aptitude actually train here?”

Shuixian Juan did not reply. She could see it now. The match would start, and a single strike from the man would bring her to her knees.

“The fourth round begins!” Lakse leaned forward to watch the match.

The man placed his right foot forward and slowly engaged. Two unnatural and soft cracks sounded from his soles each shift.

He inhabited a style. Of course he did. A Control Realm martial artist. Of course he is. Shuixian Juan breathed out. If one thing remained true, every task Lakse asked was possible. The sustained periods of traveling, no matter how arduous, always paused for rest exactly as her stamina depleted.

If Lakse did not think she could win, she wouldn’t be here. The point was always to focus her effort and will on the objective. She believed it was something she was good at. There wasn’t much else she needed to think about.

Duan Sui creased his brow as the girl remained standing straight with her hand relaxed at her side. Her eyes did even seem to register, but in melancholy instead.

He raised his arms up in a natural form. He has always assumed that Reverse Impact was a hard-fist style, but after sparring with Yeon, his perspective upended. Any force was applied over time. The length mattered, and could easily change a hard strike to a soft push.

In this manner, he would end the match. He rotated his left foot. Crouching slightly, he shot forward like a spring.

Shuixian Juan’s eyes closed.

Just as she did moments ago, she attempted to imagine a sword. The image remained a blur. She still does not have a sword. Nothing has changed. What was there to even imagine? So instead, she imagined the only sword she ever used, the red rope. A long crimson cord.

How did I learn Separation Sword, again? She had trapped herself within the sect’s empty secluded cultivation grotto.

Her arm raised her hand near her head. Her mouth opened. She bit down.

Duan Sui immediately halted.

Blood trailed down from Shuixian Juan’s hand. A thin strand of red connected the growing spill on the floor to her palm. The hall quieted at the sight and the girl looked down in curiosity. Moments passed.

“Success,” she let out.

Shuixian Juan pointed her finger forward. Through intent, the blood lashed out like a rope dart towards Duan Sui.

Duan Sui reacted. An unknown method! He faced a fellow cultivator. Grimacing, he pivoted right to dodge. If the floorboards weren’t nailed to the floor, he could raise them up to block. However, besides Control, he was only in the second realm of the Heart Path, Dao Tree. To lift the wooden boards, he had to be physically strong enough to pry them out of their nails himself.

Abruptly, the strand of red turned directions and increased in speed. In an instant, she had increased her ability to control the blood. A blade of blood controlled by intent. She was incapable of Sword Control, Sword Intent, or Sword Body. However, she was capable of a combination of all three.

A laugh from Leung Lakse resounded in the hall.

The trail arrived in front of Duan Sui. His perception of time slowed as he watched his uniform tear without resistance against the strand of red. His eyes shook. It’s too late. It pointed straight at his heart. I’m done! His skin was punctured with a painless sting. He saw death personified. Its image was a girl with an uncaring gaze.

Then he felt pain. A great deal of pain. Yet, instead of coming from his chest, the pain arrived from his back.

A fist had punched his back. Instead of pushing him forward, the punch did the opposite. It sent him flying backward at incredible speed.

Dropping lightly onto the ground with her hand raised was Han Yeon. Her eyes met Shuixian Juan’s. “Duan Sui concedes.”

At the entrance, Dru caught Duan Sui’s fall. After placing down the sweating man, he was momentarily distracted by glancing at the empty spot beside him. A moment ago, this was where Yeon stood. He slowly turned to the middle of the hall. True, I faced forward the entire time, but did anyone catch her moving?

“This isn’t a duel,” Yeon said tonelessly.

“I wasn’t told.” Shuixian Juan said bluntly.

“Do you value life?”

She shrugged and opted to glance down. Blood continued dripping from her hands. I should probably take care of this. The training hall should have wrapping bandages. She bowed with her head and turned around, exiting the ring.

Yeon watched her go.

“North River wins the round. The score is two to two. The final match is next,” Leung Lakse announced.

Yeon slowly returned to the group, a weary smile on her face. “Are you okay, Duan Sui?”

Sitting on the floor, the man nodded. “Just a flesh wound. The cut is so clean that it closes itself.”

She sighed. “We’re done.”

Xiyun stood up. Patting his light-blue outer-robe of dust, he walked forward under the confused gazes of the four others until something stopped him.

Danlu’s hand clutched his shoulder. “Where are you going?”

He tilted his head. “There’s one round left.”

“You don’t need to enter the ring for us to concede.”

The boy frowned.

At this point, everyone realized what went on inside his head.

“No.”

“No.”

“No.”

“No,” they all said.

“Let me go. I am going to concede,” Xiyun said.

“Is that really your best attempt to lie,” Yeon replied.

“I’m already a part of this event. There’s a conclusion that you initially wanted. I’ll get that conclusion and give it to you.” He didn’t say it, but in a way, this was the only parting gift he could ever offer.

“You can’t. Neither you nor Danlu was ever supposed to fight. A best of five was supposed to ensure that we could win with just the guards and me.”

“Why not?”

“Then how can you possibly win?”

“As long as cause and effects exist, I can see a path forward. For once instead of ignoring it, I’ll attempt to take the path and see where it leads me.”

Duan Sui stood up with the help of Dru. “It is our duty to ensure the safety of the family.”

“My words supersede any duty you have. Without the Eighth Lady here to contest this, stand down.” He turned to Yeon. “If I agreed to you beginning this, then let me continue.”

Yeon’s expression shifted several times. From frowning to folded lips, it finally settled to thinned lips. “Fine. I trust you.”

Xiyun nodded and stepped into the ring. Blind Fei already stood there.

“Begin!”

Blind Fei shifted his body to a form Yeon recognized as a hard-grapple style, perhaps obvious considering the advantages of knowing where an opponent was with a close-quarters style. “It's you. You’re the one I couldn't see from the very start. Do you think that’s enough to win?” he said slowly as he moved.

Yeon quirked up an eyebrow. She remembered the oddity of Xiyun’s intent or rather lack of it. Fei Ling could not take advantage of Perception, he must truly fight blind.

Fei Ling spoke. “Even before I entered the Martial Path, I could win all my fights without sigh-”

Smack!

From an imprint on Fei Ling’s face, a shoe fell onto the floor of the hall. It echoed. Everyone watched as the man slowly reached up with his shaking hand to touch his cheek. He even pinched it to check whether what just happened did happen.

“Was that allowed?” Xiyun asked Lakse impassively.

Fei Ling’s face flushed red.

“Sure, it’s allowed,” Lakse waved.

The boy nodded.

The old man broke into a dash. His ears concentrated on the spot where Xiyun stood. Just as he was about to reach the boy, he caught the sound of a tap in front of him. It was the sound of Xiyun’s remaining shoe.

Fei Ling caught the distinction, it was an empty shoe. Yet, he did not change course or assume the shoe was a distraction. His hearing confidently determined that Xiyun had not moved a signal step from his spot. The boy had dropped the shoe right between his own feet without moving. A stone thrown to distract guards usually meant the thief came from another direction, but not in this case. The distraction itself was a ruse, one his ears heard through.

Fei Ling practiced hard-grapple forms with the Rigid Bones style. Its first steps were to ensure close-quarters engagement.

Just as he arrived before Xiyun, he extended his hand out. His grip opened and reached out... only to grab at nothing. Then, two hands caught hold of his arm from below, explaining his confusion of where the boy went. The entire time, Xiyun was crouched down.

Fei Ling’s arm reflexively twisted to also grasp one of Xiyun’s wrists. He wondered what went on the boy’s mind. He was already confident in his stability and strength to drag and swing someone in such a low weight class onto the floor. This didn’t even mention that he could easily launch a hard kick.

At this moment, amidst his stop upon arrival, when his left foot placed itself down and his right foot lifted, he realized the boy’s plan. His shoe touched fabric instead of the hard floor.

It was a piece of outer clothing. Xiyun had a reason to ask whether throwing a shoe was allowed.

Trying to make a blind man slip? What a lousy trick! Even on fabric, Fei Ling could easily stabilize himself with one foot until his right foot set down.

Xiyun’s weight was too light and strength was too weak. Despite the pull of his arms, Fei Ling’s core strength easily fought against it.

Fei Ling’s right leg lowered itself down to ensure a wide stable stance before it was his initiative to attack Xiyun’s defenseless form.

Then, when his foot reached the ground, beyond his own and anyone’s expectations, Fei Ling slipped. It was only for a moment, but his knee touched the ground.

Fei Ling froze while on his knee.

Xiyun slowly stood back up.

No reactions came from the spectators.

Fei Ling felt a liquid on both his right shoe and knee. With a shaking hand, he touched the ground and brought it up. “...blood.”

It was the blood that Shuixian Juan had left on the floor.

Xiyun’s eyes turned from looking down towards the window. “So?” His voice sounded unchanged from usual.

Lakse opened his mouth. “Xiao Estate wins the round giving them the best of five matches. Xiao Estate is victorious in this challenge.”

Wide smiles grew on both Danlu and Yeon’s faces.

“Now for the agreed-upon condition to be fulfilled,” Lakse said.

Blind Fei rigidly spun his head with a twisted expression.

“Don’t be so scared Fei Ling. I am the one who told you to keep quiet, so I’ll also tell them what happened to the two drivers.”

Yeon raised an eyebrow. “What then?”

Few people saw what occurred next. Lakse stood up from his lean. Simultaneously, the man drew his sword and traveled to the middle of the hall in a single step. He smiled. “For those two drivers, let’s say I killed them both. What are you going to do about it?” He held up his blade, aimed for… Xiyun.

A yell blared. A gale blew. Something pushed Xiyun aside.

Stumbling until he caught his balance, the boy’s eyes shook.

Yeon stood in front of him, clutching her stomach with one hand. The sword held by Lakse passed through it and out her lower back.