Meanwhile, back in the office of the Jianghu Investigative Bureau, the central courtyard was dead silent. Cui Shen remained kneeling in the center, rooted to the ground by chains, not a single word escaping his lips over the tense hours that followed. The investigators behind him sat on chairs with their backs almost up against the outer wall, their eyes peeled, twitching at the slimmest of movements. They clutched their sheathed weapons with frantic grips.

Eventually, Su Jiang broke the silence with a whisper. "I should not have sent Yang Lei out alone. If there really is some kind of scheme in motion here, the Desolator of Life may not be working alone."

"Should one of us go after him?" An investigator asked.

Su Jiang's answer did not come immediately. His fingers pranced on the hilt of his sword as he mulled it over.

"No." He eventually decided. "If we did make a mistake, sending you out one by one would not improve our situation. We would just be playing into his hands. Furthermore, I don't wish to thin our numbers any further. There is a more proactive way to ensure our safety."

But then another uneasy silence descended. The investigators were not able to bear it for long, and asked, "What is it, Senior Investigator?"

Su Jiang frowned. "It's possible that they intend to make a hostage out of Yang Lei. So we need to make sure that we can turn the situation around by securing the Desolator of Life's position as a hostage of our own. Even chained up as he is, none of us feel in control right now. So I'll cut the tendons in his arms and legs, make sure he'll never move again. Even if this really turns out to be a body double ploy like I initially suspected, though he will be crippled, as long as the man's life is preserved, the main office may pardon me for the transgression considering the circumstances."

The others heard out his plan with grim expressions. Not a single one offered a word of protest.

"Though of course," Su Jiang continued, "If he is the real deal, even if I succeed, I might not be able to escape with my life."

"We'll be right behind you, Senior Investigator."

"No need." Su Jiang said. "Numbers are of no use against his poisons. All of you best just keep out of harm's way."

The Senior Investigator remained seated, thumbing his weapon. His brows were furrowed, his body tense. His fingers clamped down on his weapon.

"Desolator of Life!" Su Jiang shouted at the prisoner's back, in the same moment drawing his sword. His booming voice deafened the soft scraping of steel against the scabbard. "Why have you come here?"

"It has taken you this long to ask?" Cui Shen replied without turning around. "But there is nothing more to add - as I said, I've come to surrender."

"Don't play the fool! You know what I'm really asking here - why now? What prompted this sudden change of heart?"

Cui Shen seemed to ponder the question for a time.

"For me, courage has always been in short supply. In my heart, I always knew what the right course of action was. And yet it has taken me until now to find the courage to act."

"A poisoner mumbling about courage! Such drivel!" Su Jiang bellowed. "Your methods tell us all we need to know about your true character. You possess a deceitful and insidious nature. How can we even be sure that you are who you claim to be? Prove it!"

"For what purpose would someone pretend to be a wanted criminal?" Cui Shen shook his head. "I have nothing on me that might prove my identity."

"I'll be the judge of that!" Su Jiang declared. "Submit to a bodily search!"

"Do what you must. You have my full cooperation."

Sword in hand, Su Jiang slowly approached the kneeling Cui Shen. His red eyes bore into the back of Cui Shen's sandaled feet as he drew close. Su Jiang's sword was high in the air long before the prisoner was in its reach, its sharp edge glinting in the orange hues of the evening sunlight.

Just as the investigator was about to bring his weapon down, his ears twitched as they picked up a sound - somewhere in the distance, a horse was galloping towards the office.

Su Jiang darted back a step. "Do you hear that?" He asked his subordinates. They caught the noise moments later and rose to their feet, confused and worried.

"It's far too early for Yang Lei to return." Su Jiang gave voice to their concerns. He made his way back to the rest of the investigators with unnaturally swift strides and made it up the outer wall with a single casual hop. He squinted towards the horizon.

"It's a horse." Su Jiang began to list his observations. "There's no rider... but it's not wild, it's got a saddle on it! It's not Yang Lei's steed, though. What is going on?"

Some of the other investigators made their way up to peer at the unattended beast. Before long a panicked shout from their own ranks drew back their attention.

"Stop!" One of the investigators called out and immediately broke into a run. From the other side of the courtyard, a heavily clad stranger was sprinting towards the prisoner, naked steel in hand. A cloth wrapped his face from the nose down, while the upper side of head was concealed by a broad hat. The investigators began to bellow in unison at the intruder, demanding him to halt. But it was to no avail.

Senior Investigator Su leaped off the wall. A moment later he dashed past his subordinates, overcoming them despite their head start. But much to his chagrin, he was still a moment too late. The intruder swung his sword and chopped apart the wooden post securing Cui Shen's chain.

Su Jiang retaliated in frustration, his weapon smashing into the intruder's own. His heavy strike sent the other man sliding back across the earth.

"Brother Shen! Escape! I'll keep them busy!" Bai Guo's exclamation had Su Jiang break out into cold sweat. He immediately backed away from the intruder and trained his sword on Cui Shen, who, much to his surprise, remained where he was.

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"Don't move!" Su Jiang ordered.

"Junior brother, is that you?" Cui Shen asked, dumbfounded. "What do you think you're doing?!"

The other investigators poured in, trying to encircle the stranger. But Bai Guo was just agile enough to keep them at bay. The investigators, not at all used to working as a cohesive combat unit, kept getting in each other's way. Nevertheless, the occasional slash would manage to slip through, landing upon his sword or whiffing past his clothes.

"I overheard them!" Bai Guo shouted, his voice nearly drowned out by the clashing of steel. "They were about to cut you, turn you into a cripple!"

A close swipe cut through Bai Guo's straw hat and forced it off his head.

"What difference does it make?" Cui Shen asked. "I came here intending to die."

The tip of Su Jiang's sword remained pressed against Cui Shen's throat, but the prisoner conversed without paying it any heed.

"No! You don't have to do that!" Bai Guo pleaded. "I won't let you toss your life away over a misunderstanding!"

"Misunderstanding?" Cui Shen's brows creased in anger. His rising ire set Su Jiang on edge, but he kept his blade where it was. "Whatever my reasons were, I killed a good man. Junior brother, I thought that you, of all people, with your keen sense for justice, would understand why I'm doing this!"

Bai Guo gritted his teeth as he ducked and weaved his way out of another series of blows. He was outnumbered almost ten to one, and there was a limit to how far speed and cunning alone could take him against such odds.

"I do understand!" Bai Guo begrudgingly admitted.

"So then why?! My time has run out long ago, you know that! Cowardice alone is the reason I still remain on this earth. And my continued existence has brought me nothing but shame! Don't you understand that this is my last chance to set things right, to die a righteous death?!"

"I do understand!" Bai Guo repeated. "But even so...!"

An aged investigator jabbed at his chest. He expected the opponent to slip past his probing strike like he had done with dozens of others. But to his surprise, the intruder met the attack firmly with his sword, his feet rooted to the ground. Their weapons pressed against each other. The investigator's grey eyebrows flew up as the young man began to crudely push him back.

"I refuse to believe that what's about to take place here is justice! Brother Shen, you're just going to get another good man killed over nothing! I can't let you do this!" Bai Guo shouted. "And if justice truly does compel us to go through with this meaningless waste of life, then I'll happily discard that worthless principle!"

He plunged himself into the crowd, swinging his sword every which way in a wild flurry.

One by one his opponents took Bai Guo's heavy strikes onto their blades, and none of them dared to step back in to risk another. In their hesitation they ended up giving way. Su Jiang was now in the young man's sights. Bai Guo fearlessly charged forward.

"And if you're still unwilling, then I'll take you back by force!" Bai Guo declared.

The Senior Investigator barred his path. Bai Guo violently brought down his sword upon Su Jiang's, rallying his entire weight to the task. But the older man wouldn't budge an inch, his stance steady like a mountain. With a flick of his wrist Su Jiang forced Bai Guo back, only for the young man to lunge at him again and again.

Su Jiang's patience was exhausted quickly. He finally replied with attacks of his own. Bai Guo avoided two deadly blows by just a hair; determination quickly drained from the young man's features as he realized just how hopelessly outmatched he was. The other investigators surrounded him but none tried to approach, afraid of getting in their superior's way.

"Last chance, kid!" Su Jiang warned. "Surrender or I'll cut you down, I swear!"

"Junior brother, enough!" Cui Shen pleaded. "Step down!"

But Bai Guo refused to relent. He responded to Su Jiang's mercy with another strike. The Senior Investigator was furious. He parried the slash and began to fight back in earnest. But to Su Jiang's surprise, victory did not come as easily as he anticipated. Bai Guo weathered one strike, then two, then three... Like a slippery eel he had managed to keep out of harm's way, but though he could delay the inevitable, the outcome remained obvious to every onlooker and participant alike.

A clever strike sent Bai Guo tripping over his own feet and tumbling to the ground. Su Jiang relentlessly pursued and slashed at the defenseless youth.

Halfway down its path, his sword arm smashed into Cui Shen's elbow, who emerged at his side as though he jumped out of Su Jiang' shadow. Prisoner and captive exchanged a tense glare.

"For just a moment there, I almost believed your words." Su Jiang hissed through gritted teeth.

Cui Shen said nothing. The fighters separated. Su Jiang was left in his perfect range, and freely slashed at his unarmed and shackled foe. It quickly became evident that they were not so far apart in skill that Cui Shen could simply force his way past his opponent's sharp blade, and he could do nothing more than shrink back and dodge.

"Brother Shen!" Bai Guo called out, pulling out a sheathed sword. He tossed it at Cui Shen, who caught it without sparing it so much as a glance. Bai Guo instantly realized that he had made an error; Cui Shen might find it difficult to draw the blade because of his shackles.

Cui Shen raised the weapon to catch an overhead blow. The keen edge cut through the wooden scabbard, brushing up against the steel within. In that moment he pulled at the handle and bared the armament while the sheath was snagged on the edge of Su Jiang's sword. Grinding metal shrieked across the courtyard.

Though his wrists remained shackled, the Desolator of Life was now armed. For the investigators, things had gone from bad to worse.