"Xue'er, are you awake?"

A voice, Natsuki's voice, summoned me from my stupor.

I opened my eyes from my dreamless sleep, though my sight was dull with languor.

"Natsuki..."

"Xue'er, did you forget?" She rubbed her hand across my forehead. "Now and forever hence, I am your sister."

"That's right..." I smiled. "Jiejie..."

This word rolled so smoothly off my tongue! How blissful it was to taste it before I released it into the world! The fact that I could even say this word meant that she was here, by my side, and how beautiful that fact was!

—My sight began to clear, and I looked up to see Natsuki's face hovering over mine. She looked more... familiar. She no longer had horns, and her eyes were remarkably normal, though her irises were a rare shade of violet. The scathing white halos were no longer there.

"Jiejie, you look... different..."

"I am no longer a foreigner or a rakshasa, but rather your sister," she said with a soft smile. "Of course I ought to look the part."

A few more moments passed, and only then did I fully awake from my sleep. Sitting up, I looked around the room, and found it familiar, but in an oddly repulsive way.

"Where... is this?" I asked, a bit worriedly.

"This is the Bai manor in Kangtian," she replied, as she rose to fetch a scroll from a desk elsewhere in the room.

"Where's... everyone else?"

Natsuki unfurled the scroll, which listed hundreds of names almost all surnamed Bai, and some more at the bottom with miscellaneous surnames. Except for two, all of them were streaked through with dark red ink. Or perhaps it was blood.

"This is the registry of current members and highly-ranked advisors of the Bai family. I have killed everyone on this list, except for two."

Those two names—

Bai Chunxue, and Jing Ke.

A dull shock ran through my body, like the shock of seeing a cockroach crawl out from somewhere you already knew it was hiding.

"You..." My voice trembled, though with what emotion I knew not. "You killed them?"

"Yes. I killed them. I killed them. Last night, while you slept in my arms, I killed them all. I was here, I was in Zhaoqing, I was in the Imperial Capital, and I was in many places elsewhere, and I killed all but two of those on this list, because I despised them all."

I looked down at my shivering hands. I could feel my hatred bubbling forth, my hatred for the Bai family and the way they had treated me. And I expected to feel one more emotion. Sorrow. Should I not have felt sorrow at their deaths, if I considered them family?

And yet, I felt no sorrow. No grief. How could I mourn their deaths, the deaths of they who had done nothing but punish and abuse me, who in their final hour decided to execute me? No I could not feel sorrow. And because I had done nothing, I could not even feel guilt.

"...What about their corpses?"

"Why do you wish to see their corpses, Xue'er?" she asked with a slight frown.

I did not know how to answer. Perhaps, if I saw their corpses, then I could blame myself for their deaths. I'd be able to feel guilt for their deaths. I'd be able to feel the guilt that I couldn't feel now. But that answer...

"If it is because you wish to feel guilt, then I will not let you see their corpses. You have done nothing wrong, so you must not bear this guilt. Xue'er, you do not even have the power to kill, and without that power, you are not permitted to bear the guilt of murder."

I raised my hands, and sure enough, no qi flowed through them anymore. I had no power. And therefore, I could bear no guilt. A simple yet deadly proof, the force of which by I could not help but be freed!

"Xue'er, all that is left for you to do is relish in the realization of your hatred, then discard it and move on with your life."

"...And... what about... what about Jing Ke...?"

"He will be here sometime today, most likely. I wanted to give you the opportunity to watch him die in person." She pushed the scroll into her robes and walked out of the room. "I have left a change of clothes for you on the dresser. Once you're ready, come eat lunch."

Though my limbs were heavy with some kind of emotion I could not identify, I dressed and made my way down to the dining room, where only one plate of food was set out. I sat before it, and Natsuki sat across from me. I looked down, and I saw that the food was far too fancy for she or I to have concocted.

"Jiejie, where are all the, uh... servants?"

"I told them to leave for a few days. Once we've decided how to proceed, we can call them back."

I nodded, and began eating. Natsuki only watched me, a soft smile ever over her face.

"You eat like a skworl," she chuckled.

"Imn e—" I swallowed my food and then tried to speak again. "You mean a squirrel?"

"Yes, yes. Comme un écureuil. That is how they say it in the lands by the Nightglades."

A bit embarrassed, I pressed a finger to my cheek. Was it really that plump?

"—What are the Nightglades? I don't think I've heard of them."

"On the western end of this continent, there is a a forest one thousand miles in length that is shrouded in eternal shadow, where only the most vicious of monsters prowl. This is the Nightglades. It is said that all the leylines in the world converge in the Nightglades, such that anyone can attain great powers or great treasures by braving its depths."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

My eyes opened wide. "Is it true? That all the leylines converge there?"

Natsuki shook her head. "I do not know. These facts about the world do not interest me too much. It is humanity, not the world, that creates truth, and thus in my search of truth I have only ever been really interested in humanity. What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to become human? This is the only question the answer to which I cannot stop myself from seeking. Though I am not sure if it interests you equally."

I nodded slowly. Beyond the need for water and food, what did it mean to be human? I still could not propose an answer to this philosophical quandary. Perhaps enlightenment or the ability to seek enlightenment is what defines humanity. But there are some schools of Buddhism that say even the grass and trees will become enlightened. Perhaps, then, it is the skhandas of thought or consciousness, but I am certain that even Xiaolan carries those both. And Confucianism and Daoism make no claims that are unique to humans, so...

"Jiejie, you said once that gods wish for nothing more to become human. What exactly did that mean? It seems like it might provide the answer."

Natsuki put a finger to her chin. "Gods are bound by fate. They cannot act outside the bounds of the duty that the World-Law has prescribed them. The same goes for any sufficiently advanced practitioner of Buddhism or Daoism, because enlightenment and the Daos are all fragments of the World-Law, which you might otherwise call Prajnaparamita or Supreme Dao. And I suppose that I, too, am bound by the World-Law. But humans can act as they wish. There are no bounds to their actions other than the limitations of their own flesh."

"But... doesn't that mean that any power you gain through Buddhist or Daoist study would end up restricting your freedom? Since fundamentally, Buddhism is about unifying the will of the self with the will of the universe, and seeking the Dao is about unifying one's action with the guidance of the object."

"Yes. If we speak of Buddhism, then you have identified the paradox of Samudr. Finding yourself beset on all sides by enemies, if you try to defend yourself then you must abandon enlightenment, and if you seek enlightenment then you cannot defend yourself. The exception is if your self-defense is an incidental product of serving the World-Law— for Samudr, the true purpose of freezing the pot and meditating on an utpala lotus grown from its filth was not to preserve his own life, but to straighten out Emperor Ashok's crooked nature by proving the supremacy of Buddhism. If it had not been Emperor Ashok but rather a group of wild beasts that had attacked him, then he would have died, and that would have been his enlightenment."

I stuffed my face full of food once more. In large strokes it made sense, but there was something inconsistent about this story.

Some moments later, after swallowing another mouthful of food, I frowned and said, "Then what changed? How come you had so little freedom before, but now, you can go around k—"

I could not finish the word, but Natsuki nodded, having well understood the meaning.

"I am still only acting in accordance with the contract by which I am bound to this dream. When our contract was for your revenge, I could do nothing more than provide you power. But now I am your elder sister. By killing all those who threaten your life, I am only serving the oath I swore to you. You could say that this is itself a Dao of sorts. Thus, there is no violation of the World-Law."

I was not sure. As far as I knew there was no mention of killing enemies in the Confucian model of family. But I was happy that she would do it. I was happy merely that she was here. I loved her. I was grateful more than anything for her, for her presence, for her action.

I was grateful, of course, but I felt almost... bad for her. She still did not have freedom. If anything, was I not tying her down with my affection, with this contract, even more than the previous one, now that this one would last my entire life?

I suddenly noticed that Natsuki was no longer sitting across from me. Rather, she was standing behind me.

She bent down and hugged me, then whispered in my ear, "Do not feel bad for me, Xue'er. You people of the land east of Altyn-Tagh are so enamored with duty that you do not understand that a duty performed out of love can hardly be called as much. Right now, I have just as much freedom as I wish for. Do not forget that it was me who asked you to form this contract."

She released her embrace.

"Come. Our guests are here."

----------------------------------------

I followed Natsuki out into the courtyard, though it felt like my legs were pushing through snow as I did. The great gates of immovable obsidian jade were closed as always, but the courtyard was eerily silent. There were no servants rushing around, though I trusted Natsuki's words that they would be back in a few days.

I could no longer feel the flow of qi in the air. When I had freed myself of my guilt, I had also lost my power. But that was fine. I no longer needed to wield power, now that Natsuki was here by my side.

I glanced at her, and I noticed that her robes had slightly changed. The sleeves of her robes were open instead of sewn closed, and her skirt was flared instead of pleated, but otherwise... it seemed to be just about the same.

The wind blew, and in the span of a breath, two figures appeared before us in the courtyard.

Jiang Sheng, and... Jing Ke.

Jing Ke...!

I could feel hatred, pure rabid rage burning through my body. But no qi followed it. I was powerless. And that was fine.

Jing Ke glared at me derisively, and then fixed his gaze on Natsuki. He did not seem to recognize her.

"Who the hell are you...? Are you responsible for this?!"

"For what?" she asked coolly.

"For this!" With a cry of rage, Jing Ke unfurled a scroll, on which a message was written in streaks of blood.

I will destroy the Bai family.

Natsuki smiled softly.

"—As I thought! There was no way that Bai Chunxue could actually wield such a great power. You're the hidden backer, aren't you?! What family are you from?! Are you one of Long Bailian's people?!"

Jing Ke's shouts grew louder and louder, to the point where no doubt all of Kangtian could hear him. But the great obsidian jade gates were closed, so all they could do was listen in from outside.

Natsuki laughed. "I see. Yes, that was my doing. As for who I am... you may call me Xiayue, and I suppose that I am Bai Chunxue's Dao Protector."

Xiayue. It was, quite literally, a translation of Natsuki.

Jing Ke ground his teeth, and then, suddenly, an expression of horror spread over his face.

He had finally heard the silence.

"...Where is everyone?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"I have already killed them all. Other than you and Chunxue— if you even count— I have killed every member of the Bai family. Aiya, perhaps if you had only received my letter some hours earlier, you would have been able to save some of them."

Jing Ke's eyes narrowed, but—

"Grand Elder," Jiang Sheng whispered to him, "I do not consider these words credible. This person is not strong enough to fight most of the Bai family elders."

From her robes Natsuki pulled out a token, a slab of carved obsidian jade, two characters embossed upon its patterned surface:

Bai Fei.

That left no doubt. There was nobody in the Bai family who held more authority than Bai Fei. Thus, if his personal token was not in his own hands, it could only mean—

that he was dead.

A great wave of pressure spread out from Jing Ke, so great that I felt like my knees would shatter below me. But Natsuki placed a hand out in front of me, and I had no fear.

His face contorted with pure fury, Jing Ke stepped forward and roared, "Demon, if I do not kill you now, I will not be able to face my ancestors! Jiang Sheng, I will let you kill the bastard, but first let me take revenge for the Bai family!"

Jiang Sheng grimaced and stepped back.

Natsuki smiled and stepped forward.