Earlier that day, two dour old men stared at a map of the city in a spacious room lit up by lanterns, their arms crossed behind their backs. Soon, another bearded man entered the room. They all wore identical uniforms of yellow and red, the number six on their shoulders.

"This entire affair was your idea." The man with the grayest beard rebuked the new arrival. "How come we had to wait for you, Zhou Zhu?"

"Apologies, elders." Zhou Zhu bowed his head a little, a smile on his face. "It took some effort to dissuade the second prince from joining us tonight."

The other two regarded him in silence. Though they wanted to criticize him some more, his excuse was worthy.

"That precious second prince of ours," The gray haired elder began, sarcastically, "Is always eager for a chance to prove himself. But his unique combination of status and martial arts ability make it quite the challenge to find him suitable opportunities..."

"A hair off his body means a head off our shoulders." Zhou Zhu shook his head. "And his fifth rank makes him very uninclined to take lip from those below him regardless of how their martial arts compare to his."

Nobody present wanted to be burdened with babysitting during such a perilous operation.

They all turned their eyes to the map, countless buildings upon it speckled with red little flag posts.

"As you all know," Zhou Zhu began, "Our target is the Invincible Blood Sea. I have it on good authority that he will be gambling tonight, though where exactly, I do not know. Therefore, we will have the disciples raid all of these establishments. Once they find Tao Geming, the three of us will put an end to him."

"You've mentioned your plan before, but here's what I don't understand," The man with the shortest beard spoke, "Once the disciples begin causing a ruckus, how do you aim to prevent the Invincible Blood Sea from fleeing before he is discovered?"

"We will coordinate with fireworks." Zhou Zhu explained. "Once we have given the disciples enough time to reach their designated positions, we will shoot one off into the sky to herald the start of the operation. The raids will begin simultaneously, and he will be caught no matter where he is."

The other man nodded.

The gray bearded one shook his head. "Your plan is full of flaws. Even if they find him, the lower rank disciples can't possibly hold him off, so he would get away all the same."

"Each team will be issued a signaling rocket of their own. Once they find Tao Geming, they will fire them into the air to alert us to his position. We will then converge on that location from three directions and show him no mercy. There will be no escape."

"Even so," The elder persisted, "Those lower rank disciples unfortunate enough to find him will certainly die before we get there."

"Naturally." Zhou Zhu replied. "But this man's presence here is tantamount to war, and in war, sacrifices must be made. The integrity of our entire Qin Kingdom is at risk while he remains here."

The elder pursed his lips, but presented no rebuke.

"Will his majesty be making an appearance tonight?" The elder with the short beard asked.

"There is no need to inconvenience his highness. If us three elders can't handle it on our own, we'll lose all face." Zhou Zhu replied. "Speed is of the essence in this plan. Make sure you tell your disciples to go through every house quickly and thoroughly. If any civilians are foolish enough to get in their way, don't hesitate to cut them down. Any other questions?"

The other two remained silent.

"Excellent. The operation shall commence tonight."

Once the sun set, hundreds of Royal School disciples split into teams of five to ten warriors each and sprawled out across the streets under the cover of darkness. Those few residents participating in the capital's night life had immediately recognized that something was afoot and made themselves scarce.

The three sixth rank elders formed a triangle over the city and observed the streets from the tops of tall buildings. When Zhou Zhu figured that enough time had passed, he gave the order to light the fireworks. His order was met with acknowledgment, but no matter how long he waited, the firework had not been fired.

"I told you to shoot!" Losing his patience, he yelled at the younger man behind him.

"I'm sorry, master..." His squatting disciple replied apologetically as he loomed over the fuse with a lit torch. "But I can't seem to get it to... Aha!"

The fuse had finally ignited. With a soft hiss, the lick of flame began to slowly climb up the rope.

Zhou Zhu turned away, contented. But then his keen ears picked up a violent commotion further down the street.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked. "The signal hasn't been sent yet!"

But none of the surrounding disciples had an answer for him. Zhou Zhu snorted and let the matter be, figuring that if it was truly important, they would have sent a signal.

Finally, once the rocket launched into the sky and erupted into a cacophony of noise and colors, their operation truly began. The city erupted into chaos as the hundreds of disciples stormed the various inns, tea houses, betting parlors, and restaurants. They busted through doors, smashed up furniture, broke even the walls and the floors, and interrogated the people at swordpoint.

The resting place of the Golden Witch and her entourage was one of the scant few places spared the treatment; one of the three elders was a frequent customer and had vouched for its integrity.

Zhou Zhu was unable to tell from his position, but his plan had not been flowing as smoothly as he was expecting. The group of disciples that he had heard causing a disturbance before the operation commenced had sprung into action prematurely upon noticing a man that fit Tao Geming's description. It turned out that he was not the Invincible Blood Sea, but he was, in fact, an independent martial artist, who, upon getting treated with hostility, decided to fight back. And they were not the only group that had experienced a similar situation.

The capital was so large that some of the disciples who were positioned on the far outskirts of the city had missed the signal entirely, and only had the citywide commotion to use as their cue, starting with considerable delay.

And, of course, even in the dark, the movements of the countless Royal School disciples had not gone unnoticed to those citizens that were still awake. Especially not to their target.

...And especially not to a certain masked, golden haired individual lurking in the dark alleys, who had been observing a particular squad of yellow robed warriors taking up position beside a certain restaurant, inside of which she had sensed a certain man.

Upon receiving the signal, they barged into the building. Half a minute later, one of them came flying out through the half-broken door, sent tumbling unceremoniously across the street like a ragdoll. The first rank disciple's life had been ended.

Even outside the restaurant, the thick stench of blood became palpable. The inside had been painted a vibrant red.

A lone disciple ran out, tears streaming down his face. He tripped over the restaurant's porch and had to crawl away.

"He's here! He's here! The Invincible Blood Sea! At the Chicken Soup Lobby!" He screamed. Though the nearby teams had heard him, they hadn't been taught the names of any of the restaurants they were raiding other than the one they were tasked with, and neither had any of them frequented these parts of the city. His words had done nothing to guide them. With only the sound of his voice to go on, they needed some time to figure out where it was coming from.

"You pieces of shit! I was winning!" Tao Geming bellowed as he followed the young man out. He lifted the Royal School disciple with a single hand. "Where is Qin Yan?"

"H-H-His highness resides in t-t-the palace." He stammered, pointing in a direction.

"You mean he didn't come out for this?! Did none of you listen to what I said?!"

"I don't know! I'm sorry!"

"I told you that none of you... None of you will be spared!" Tao Geming raged.

From around the corner, another squad of disciples had finally arrived.

"It's really him! Light the signal!" One of them exclaimed, and a young woman planted the rocket into the ground, trying to light the fuse. As the flame made its way up, her and the firework both were slammed into by the poor unfortunate that had been in Tao Geming's grasp just a moment ago. The rocket broke, its fuse went out. It was the only one that their team had had.

As the Invincible Blood Sea descended upon them, the blonde woman hiding behind him hopped onto the roof to better follow his trail of slaughter. As time went on and the bodies began to pile up, she realized that he was not killing at complete random, but instead had been cutting a steady path towards the city's center.

Finally, after far too long, one of the disciples had managed to send off the rocket. The masked woman tilted her neck up to watch its rapid ascent even as it flew nearly directly over her head. When it exploded, she was startled by the eruption of noise and color. Once the cover of darkness had been stripped away from her, she was spotted in an instant.

In the distance, someone exclaimed. "Who goes there? Identify yourself!" A higher ranking disciple had been making his way along the rooftops and spotted her remarkable figure from well beyond the range of her sensory ability.

Though she leaped out to assume a different hiding spot, now that the firework had gone off, the disciples from all over the city began to converge on her location, quickly leaving her with less and less places to be.

That included the three elders, of which Zhou Zhu had happened to be the closest to the conflict zone. By the time he had arrived, he found the Royal School forces in disarray, and called onto a fourth rank disciple to explain the situation. "Disciple Chen, where is Tao Geming?"

Disciple Chen replied, "We have briefly lost sight of him, but as far as we could surmise, he seemed quite intent on heading in that direction."

"If you know where he's headed, then why am I seeing disciples roaming all over?" Zhou Zhu asked sternly.

"They are keeping an eye out for the yellow fox."

"What in the world are you babbling about?" The elder's voice was tinged with budding fury.

Disciple Chen quickly chattered out a response to alleviate the master's temper. "A martial artist with a yellow fox pelt over his head has been spotted multiple times by our disciples. He seems to be following the Invincible Blood Sea. We suspect that it's an ally of his. His martial arts are quite proficient; he killed a rank two disciple, and was even able to escape from me at one point."

Zhou Zhu gave him with a steely look before eventually nodding, his doubts dispersed. "Immediately notify me when either Tao Geming or this "yellow fox" has been spotted."

Disciple Chen bowed and continued the search. As Zhou Zhu stared in the direction Tao Geming was purported to be heading towards, his eyebrows flew up as a realization had suddenly struck him.

"Fools!" He exclaimed. "The royal palace is in that direction! Quick, notify the other elders, tell them to head over there at once!"

After Zhou Zhu had heard some replies to the affirmative, he began to dash towards the palace. His swiftness was astonishing. He jumped along the rooftops as easily as a man treads solid ground.

The Royal School disciples scattered to carry out his orders, but had found it extremely challenging to find the other elders in the dark and chaotic streets.

Upon his arrival at the palace, almost a miniature city in and of itself, Zhou Zhu found the vast outer courts of the royal residence undisturbed. After notifying the patrolling disciples of the imminent danger, he had deigned to join them in the patrols as he waited for the other two elders to make their appearance.

However, he had found himself waiting a long time, far longer than it should have taken for them to make their way from just about any point in the city. Evidently, he thought, his orders had not been adhered to. As he rued the incompetence of his subordinates, a loud bang erupted in the direction of one of the entry gates, almost like an explosion. Before he managed to arrive at the scene, the sound had occurred once more, this time closer to the inner areas of the palace.

The entrance to one of the grand halls leading into the inner courtyards had been smashed to bits. The double doors were reduced to nothing but splinters, and the bronze studs adorning them were turned into deadly projectiles to slay the disciples guarding within.

The other end of the hall had been similarly destroyed. It looked like a cannonball had gone right through.

Some of the incapacitated warriors, those few lucky enough to have survived, began to rise upon noticing Zhou Zhu's presence. They affirmed the elder's fears: Tao Geming had come through this place. More palace guards poured into the hall. Those who had overheard the report dashed eagerly after the Invincible Blood Sea.

"Halt!" Zhou Zhu ordered, and the disciples stopped in confusion. Swallowing heavily, the elder continued. "We wait for the other two elders."

Put bluntly, Zhou Zhu was unwilling to rise to the challenge with so few fighters at his side. To make matters even worse, none of the palace guards held a rank above three, and even those made up only a scant few.

"But elder Zhou, what about his highness...?" One of the disciples asked.

Zhou Zhu scoffed. "You dare to imply that some vagabond could best our king in battle?"

The disciple in question bowed profusely. "No, sir, no! You are right, the thug would surely be vanquished by his highness!"

The elder turned away from the offending youngster. However, his obstinate frown had been instantly shattered by surprise as he spotted an intruder by the entrance.

Meekly peering into the busted entrance was a golden haired, white robed woman, her features concealed beneath a fox mask. As she made her way into the hall, her head turned here and there to inspect the scene.

"The Yellow Fox!" Zhou Zhu exclaimed, drawing her attention. His expression hardened as he barked out more orders. "Take off your mask, woman! Identify yourself immediately!"

The Yellow Fox broke out into a rapid dash, intent on making her way past the Royal School members. Though her speed was prodigious, Zhou Zhu still overtook her in an instant, barring her path. The woman jerked back, startled by his sudden reappearance.

The other disciples were quick to react. "Kill her!" They exclaimed, brandishing their spears.

Two spearmen flanked her from the left and right, striking in perfect synchronicity. The sleeves of the Yellow Fox fluttered, her arms darting to the sides as she gripped the shafts of both spears just below the sharp heads. Suddenly, the two disciples found themselves carrying out their charge with far more vigor than they had intended. They had little choice than to barrel forward clumsily as they struggled to maintain their footing and the grips on their weapons.

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As the Yellow Fox crossed her arms in front of her, she loosened her grasp and allowed the spears to slide past her palms, ferried forth by the uncontrolled momentum of the two disciples. They both inadvertently injured the other, suffering grievous wounds to the chest and crumbling to the ground.

The next disciple came up behind her, thrusting out from a fancy stance, a maneuver that Zhou Zhu recognized as a rudimentary skill from their school's curriculum. The Yellow Fox twirled out of the way and struck the spearwoman on the head with a palm, sending her flying across the hall.

Zhou Zhu sprang into action the instant she turned away, jabbing at her back with an identical strike. The Yellow Fox stomped her foot, her heel seesawing a discarded spear into path of the elder's lunge. His eyes widened as he was forced to make a hasty adjustment to his attack. His feet drifted across the wooden floor as he careened to the side. He felt fingertips below his wrist as the woman made to grab him.

Zhou Zhu used the firmness of her grip to flip himself over, performing an impromptu swinging kick towards her head. His inventive strike had forced her to renege on the grapple, and the two drifted apart. A bead of sweat dripped down Zhou Zhu's brow; the woman had missed a vital pressure point on his wrist by just a hair. As they stared each other down, the masked woman picked up a spear.

"Stand back!" Zhou Zhu commanded the disciples. His masked foe seemed to have eyes on the back of her head. The others were not useful even as a distraction.

Suddenly, the Yellow Fox lifted her leg, mimicking a stance that she, by all rights, should have never even had the chance to see.

Then, the skill was performed for the third time in a row.

Zhou Zhu was flabbergasted by this development. The opportunity to properly counter the technique had already slipped him by. It was all he could do to put the pole of his weapon into the path of the attack.

The internal energy Zhou Zhu had channeled into his weapon proved to be no impediment to the lightning-quick strike. His spear was cleaved in twain. Steel penetrated his chest.

"The Crane Plucks the Pearl!" The Royal School members immediately recognized the technique. "How could this be? She's from the Royal School?!"

Zhou Zhu's life was swiftly draining from his body. Their confused voices were the last thing he heard; the crude mask - the last thing he beheld.

The Yellow Fox released the spear, letting the man fall with the weapon still sticking out of him. As she turned to gaze at the remaining disciples, their fighting spirit had finally wavered. They scattered in all directions.

Following Tao Geming's trail, she ventured deeper into the palace. In the chaos caused by the Royal School's massed raids, she had lost track of her quarry multiple times, feeling his internal energy darting in and out just beyond the border of her preternatural sense. She was unable to commit to the chase in earnest because of the disciples swarming around her like locusts.

The affair had taken up most of the night. The earliest rays of morning were already peeking over the horizon.

After wandering for a time, she was able to pick up the presence of several people. Though none of them turned out to be her target, something gave her pause. She turned her head up to a lone decorative tree and ran her hands across its bark. With a sudden leap, she plucked out an exceptionally long, straight branch. She stripped it of leaves, and sharpened one end with a rock. Then, with another leap over the walls, she landed in a vast, vibrant garden.

One last jump had her settle on the branch of a plum tree. She observed a small group sipping wine on the porch of a little cottage down below, five women surrounding a lone man. All six were dressed in light robes. The Fox's nose twitched as it picked up the stench of sweat seeping past their perfumed bodies.

She seemed content to eavesdrop on their muted conversation as they joked and flirted.

At last, one of the women had spotted her. She dropped her wine cup with a gasp, drawing the attention of the others.

"My..." The man scratched the thin stubble on his flushed, youthful face. His soft, brown eyes lit up as he smiled. "You are not at all what I expected from your description. But you really are like a yellow fox..."

"Are you the king?" She asked.

"The one and only! Qin Yan, at the service of the people." He exclaimed.

"I came here to challenge you," She declared, "But maybe you're too drunk to fight."

"Alcohol has no power over me." Qin Yan slurred. "Hasn't for years! But you know this too, right? You had to be quite skilled yourself to make it all the way here. Those like you and I, we have to practically force the alcohol to settle in our bodies, and then we can just flush it all out with a flick of the wrist!"

"I wouldn't know. I don't drink." The Yellow Fox replied.

"You don't drink?! To deprive yourself of one of life's greatest pleasures is..." He seemed to have forgotten what he was going to say. "Well, I couldn't do that..."

"The flavor is unpleasant."

The king laughed. "The point isn't the flavor. But even when it comes to flavor, well, in this place, you'd find so many varieties that it would be impossible to hate them all..."

He rose his cup before her as if to toast, downed it, then poured himself another one.

He suddenly asked a grim question. "How many of my subordinates have you killed on your way here?"

"At least five."

Qin Yan bitterly stared at his cup. "What a shame. If you hadn't killed anyone, we might have talked about having you join us." As the king took another sip from his cup, his companions exchanged baffled glances.

Sitting atop the plum branch, the Yellow Fox playfully kicked her feet. "I wouldn't be interested anyways."

Qin Yan chuckled. Though he hadn't been able to see her face, he could tell that she was in a good mood.

"Your highness," One of the women suddenly spoke up. "What are you saying? Why are you chatting with her like this? She is an intruder, a murderer! If someone else saw you treating an enemy this way, what would they say? Just what would happen to the Royal School's name? You are giving her far more face than she deserves, while she doesn't offer so much as a bow in turn. Let me and my martial sisters teach her her place and avenge our fellow disciples."

Qin Yan hadn't even looked her way, his face scrunched up in something resembling derision. He instead spoke to the Yellow Fox. "Miss, what was the highest rank of the person you've slain on your way here?"

"How would I know?" She asked.

Qin Yan chuckled again; the question seemed ridiculous in these circumstances. "Well, what was the highest number you've seen on their shoulders?"

"Six."

Qin Yan's female companions paled at her words. He himself had furrowed a brow as he turned to them. "Would you still like to give it a go? Perhaps one of you has been training in secret?"

As they meekly lowered their heads, the Yellow Fox asked, "How many ranks are there?"

Qin Yan looked back up at her, a small smile on his lips. "It adds up to seven all in all, but the seventh rank has only one holder. Me!" He finished another cup. "Xiaoli, be a dear and fetch me my spear."

Xiaoli, the young woman that had previously admonished the king, bowed before rising, and soon brought back a remarkably long wooden spear hooped with gold rings at both ends of the shaft, with a triangle-shaped head at the top. Xiaoli kneeled before Qin Yan as she presented it, and the king placed it across his knees.

With his hand, he made a gesture. The others began to leave. Xiaoli remained, whispering something. Qin Yan tenderly brushed his hand through her dark hair and whispered something in return.

Despite their hushed tones, the Yellow Fox had made out every word. Her legs stopped moving, her ears perked up as she listened more to their sickly sweet exchange. Xiaoli muttered of love, of fear, of self-sacrifice. Qin Yan murmured reassurances with gentle confidence.

Finally, Xiaoli went on her way with the others.

After they left, Qin Yan brushed back his long dark hair as he spoke to the Fox. "You know, despite the circumstances, there might still be a place for you here at my side."

The playfulness instantly drained out of her voice. "Unbelievable. You waited until they were all gone to say that."

Qin Yan smiled. "I'm quite serious. I could give you the rank of a sixth rank elder from the very start. The sixth rank is handpicked by me, and it's rare indeed for us to train up an expert to that level. You would be the first woman in the Royal School's history to obtain it."

"Those girls weren't sixth rank elders?" The Fox asked, sarcasm in her voice. "They certainly looked handpicked."

Qin Yan chuckled. "Well, they do have some potential..." The king's smile then faded; sobriety returned to him in an instant. "But your place here doesn't have to be anything like theirs. If the affections of a king are not to your liking, then consider the status, the prestige, the wealth that await you. The Qin Royal Dynasty Sword School has thousands of strong, loyal members. As a sixth rank elder, hundreds of them could become your direct subordinates overnight. Your duties would be few, and if you would like a few special privileges that the other elders do not get, privileges that would be unique to you, well, I am also willing to arrange that. For example, I am building myself a new palace, but I could bestow it upon you when it's complete..."

The Yellow Fox hopped down. "Sorry." Her apology was not completely bereft of sincerity, and even tinged ever so slightly with regret. She held her branch behind her as she approached. Her voice was firm as she continued. "But my only desire is to have nothing stand above me but the heavens themselves."

Qin Yan conceded. "My, what a profoundly arrogant thing to say. That's a privilege that is indeed beyond even the king's ability to grant." As he watched her approach, he lightly whistled. "My, aren't you a tall one. But I can't say I dislike that at all..." He smiled again. "And though I may not be able to see past that mask of yours, I can tell just by your voice that there's a pretty face behind it."

She scoffed. "You can't tell that by someone's voice."

But Qin Yan continued his ramblings with a sigh. "It's why it doesn't surprise me to know that you must already have someone else."

"...You really know how to spin a yarn. But your jokes won't make me feel bad over what I'm about to do to you. And after I'm done, you might feel regretful, having fed me so much honey."

Qin Yan sighed. "At least tell me it's not that Tao Geming who captured your heart!"

Suddenly, the Yellow Fox stopped. Not a word came from underneath the fox's mask.

His eyes widened. "It really is him?!"

"No," She denied, "Of course not. Why would you even think that? Perhaps you've never met him before, that you would think so?"

"Just the once, and it was not a fortuitous encounter by any means," Qin Yan explained, "But you two did emerge at nearly the same time, so it makes one think..."

The Yellow Fox pointed her sharpened stick at the king. "Stand up."

"Well, if it's inevitable..." Qin Yan began, "Then how about we make it a little more interesting? What say you to fighting, hmmm, over there?"

He innocuously nodded his head in the direction of a bamboo grove growing over a steep artificial hill. The emerald green stems had been stripped of leaves, their bare, thin poles quivering in the wind.

"You've been doing such a lovely job of stalling so far," The Yellow Fox said, "But this is your worst effort yet. Stand up."

He shook his head as he stood. "Since you've proven to be such a lovely guest yourself, I just thought I'd give you a chance to save some face. But I guess you don't know - in my Qin Royal Dynasty Sword School, the spear is above all. You might guess, then, that if the sword isn't first, it must be second. That isn't so. The true power of the spear can only be brought out with one's legs. What this means is that, in all the world..."

In that moment, Qin Yan had disappeared. The golden eyes of the Yellow Fox next witnessed something gray blurring towards her neck. While half a heartbeat ago they were both standing well outside the reach of each other's blades, now the king was well within range to lop her head off with the swing of his spear.

The Yellow Fox bent her waist backwards and the strike narrowly missed her. Now, Qin Yan had overreached, and it should have been a prime opportunity to readjust one's position and counterattack as the king had to draw back and straighten out his long polearm.

However, no such opening presented itself. Instead of controlling the spear with his arms, he used his legs. He stepped back, set his spear straight, and thrust it back into his foe, his footwork alone granting the tip profound killing power. His feet seemed glued to the earth, his steps so quick that they were completely invisible, as if he was gliding along the ground.

The Yellow Fox leaped back, buying herself precious moments that could not even be measured in seconds. She swung her branch and just barely managed to swat the deadly steel off its path.

"...Our lightness techniques are second to none."

Qin Yan began to move backwards. Though his feet never rose from the grass, there was no word that could be used to describe his movement other than flight. The Yellow Fox gave chase, but her sprint could barely keep pace.

They reached the distant grove in seconds. Qin Yan took off, bouncing back and forth between the bamboo stalks as though they were sturdy stone walls, making his way ever higher.

The Yellow Fox pursued without hesitation. Her ascent bent the pole as she scaled it, and she improvised by climbing up in a circle to balance out the stress. She had found Qin Yan patiently sitting with his legs crossed atop the blunt tips of the bamboo, waiting for her.

"Do you see now? The king fights where he pleases." He smugly declared as he watched her try to balance herself on the stalks, which bent and tilted under her feet. "Welcome to my personal training ground."

The Yellow Fox had quickly found some scarce comfort of stability in an incredibly awkward posture, with one leg bent at the knee and the other straightened into the side of a pole.

Qin Yan's smile turned into one of pity. "I'd like to let you know that I'll accept your surrender at any time. However, I must warn you, as soon as we begin, you will find it very difficult to find another opportunity."

The Yellow Fox, in her strange position, spoke with wavering confidence. "You are, perhaps, discounting me too soon."

Qin Yan sighed as he lifted himself to a single foot. The bamboo he was standing on hadn't budged at all. "That you survived my first two stances so easily means I can't discount you at all. That's what makes this so regrettable."

Though his face still carried the hints of a smile, his eyes grew cold. The icy tip of his spear briefly glinted in the morning sun before it had been brought to bear against the foe once more.

...