All told, there were thirty-nine cultivators standing near the North Gate when the inner disciple began speaking. Gao Long was not present, so at least forty cultivators survived the Rite of Initiation. There might have been some stragglers that would reach the North Gate later, but Shao wouldn’t have been surprised if that was everyone who had made it.
The inner disciple began to read from a thick scroll. “Here are your assignments. Listen carefully, because I’m only going to read it once. You’ll be assigned to one of the three districts. Go to that district’s armory, and you’ll be assigned specific lodgings.”
He paused for a moment before beginning to read out a list. “Those who passed through the South Gate: South District. Those from the Dong or Gao Clans: North District. Those from the Shen or Xiahou Clans: East District. Those from the Liu or Wei Clans: South District. All others: East District.”
The inner disciple snapped the scroll shut and walked away from the crowd without any further fanfare. There was silence for a moment as everyone considered the significance of what had just happened. Shao paused for a moment to think and realized that his group would be split by this command. Xu Fei and Louis would be sent to the East District. On the other hand, Xiahou Ren, Yang Shao, Liu Mei, and Gao Long would be sent to the South District.
It seemed strange to Shao that people would be assigned based on clan affiliation within a place where one’s clan should be irrelevant. He didn’t linger on that thought for too long, however, since such clan rivalries were probably much too complicated for him to fully understand.
Shao realized that there was a good chance he would never see Xu Fei or Louis again, so he walked up to the large group of cultivators with his shoulders stooped. Strangely, Shao felt as though two great weights, each much heavier than the weights weighing down his arms and legs, had been placed on his shoulders.
As Shao began to shoulder his way toward Xu Fei, one of the lower-realm Lianqi grabbed him by the arm. Shao had to resist the powerful urge to tear the cultivator’s arm off.
The interposing cultivator, a Wei man, began to speak in a threatening voice. “What do you want? Why are you approaching Xu Fei?”
“Let go of me.” Shao quietly delivered this command, the threat of violence palpably dripping from every word.
Before Shao’s patience ran out, Xu Fei suddenly appeared from behind a mass of people. Shao had not prepared himself mentally, and Xu Fei’s bloodline talent grabbed hold of his mind.
Not in full control of his mental faculties, Shao began to speak. “Are you okay, Xu Fei? I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to come with you to the East District.” Some unseen force pushed Shao forward, and he said the next few words automatically. “If you need me to, I’ll help you. Just say the word, and I’ll kill everyone here.”
In that moment, Shao knew that he would have done it if Xu Fei had given the command. He would have started swinging his sword and killed the lower-realm Lianqi one after another until either they were all dead or he was dead.
The Wei man reacted physically, but Shao hardly noticed. When Shao looked at the Wei man, all he could see was the fleshy viscera that he would have to cut in order to kill him quickly. Shao could see the Wei man’s punctured diaphragm and severed ribcage as clearly as if it had already happened.
Fear obvious in her voice, Xu Fei spoke quickly before violence could break out. “I’m fine. There’s no need for violence. Please, Yang Shao.”
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Shao looked into Xu Fei’s eyes, and he saw himself reflected within. In one terrible second, Shao realized that he had become one of those violent cultivators that terrified the mortals of Haishan. On some level, he knew that he had always been that way, but the decades of peace in Bluecrest Village had never given him a reason to resort to violence.
He knew that he would have to stay far away from Xu Fei. At his core, Shao was made for violence, and Xu Fei only desired safety and peace. Ren was right, Shao realized. For her own good, the group had to split up.
“As you say,” Shao said, hiding the sadness in his voice. He closed his eyes for a moment and was able to remove the Curse of Jade from his mind. “If you ever need our help, we’ll be in the South District.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Xu Fei said. Even with his limited understanding of human expressions, Shao could tell that she doubted what she said.
Another hand grabbed Shao’s shoulder from behind, and he turned to look at the new assailant with naked anger in his eyes. When he looked, however, he saw that Liu Mei had grabbed him.
“Come on,” she said in a quiet voice. “Let’s go before anybody else dies.”
Shao turned away from the crowd, and the North Gate was a speck on the horizon within minutes. Other than Liu Mei, six other cultivators from the Wei and Liu clans joined the group walking toward the South District. An outer disciple, a woman named Sun Biyu, escorted the group toward their destination. Sun Biyu began to give the spiel that Xiahou Ren and Yang Shao had already heard, so they traveled at the back of the group with Liu Mei.
“What happened?” Liu Mei asked. “The two of you smell like blood.”
“You have enhanced olfaction? That’s rare,” Ren mused.
“Shut up, you wordy bastard,” she muttered. “What happened to the others that went for the South Gate?”
“Dead,” Shao answered tersely. “Killed by divine wolves.”
The sun was low in the sky by the time their group had received their weapons and uniforms from the Quartermaster and arrived at the South District Administration Building. Dressed in their hakama and awkwardly wielding swords with which they had little experience, they formed a line and walked up to a middle-aged woman sitting behind a lattice of iron bars. There was a small gap in the bars where the woman could pass small items to those waiting in the line.
When Shao reached the front of the line, the woman asked him a question with tired formality.
“Name?”
“Uh…” Shao stuttered, not expecting the question. “Yang Lin Shao.”
The female outer disciple looked down at an open scroll on her desk. After a few seconds, she handed Shao a wooden talisman that had been marked with thick black brush strokes and a thick iron key. A moment later, she handed him a small package wrapped in paper that contained a Body Cultivation Pill and a Bone Strengthening Pill.
“Here is your monthly pill ration. Your assigned task is to guard the South Gate every day from sunset to noon. If you do not carry out this task with sufficient vigor, you will not receive your pills next month, and your residence will be given to someone else. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. You have been assigned to live at Serpent Village, House 12. All of you have been assigned to Serpent Village, so Sun Biyu will lead you there after this.”
“Thank you, honored senior.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now, move out of the line.”
Shao stepped out of line, and the man behind him glared at him angrily.
About an hour later, the group arrived at Serpent Village, a small settlement near the South Gate that was composed of little more than a few dozen houses, a well, and one larger building near the center.
The small settlement, lit by paper lamps and surrounded by ancient trees, reminded Shao of home. He couldn’t help but smile at his good fortune.