The path from the village was a simple thing of dirt, leading to a larger road that was just as simply made. Trees much like the ones she had spent the previous day walking through lined the roadsides, though they did not even come close to encroaching. There was a sign post at the T-intersection where path met road, but Irene had no time to inspect it. She was too busy staring up at the sky, openly gaping.

“How did I miss this?” Irene marvelled. Beyond the horizon, as if rising up from distant mists, she could see the ring world. Up and up it went, land and seas sprawling with it. It looked like a cross section of some planet had been taken and placed down, nothing artificial about their form, and her gaze followed the curve of the ring until she saw the point where day turned to night as the Heart overhead slowly turned. Its light prevented her from following the ring further, but she turned her gaze to the other side, gawking at the ring as it came back down to the horizon behind her. She could see deserts and forests, seas and oceans.

It was one of the most amazing sights she had ever witnessed. Someone had built this.

“The forest canopy was thick, but you did not see it when we reached the lake?” Yangjie asked from her back.

“No, I - I don’t know how I missed it,” Irene said again. “Maybe the animation hadn’t finished buffering,” she muttered to herself. She couldn’t help but stare, eyes in the sky. If there was a snake on the road she would step right on it.

Croak, Charles said, patting her on the ear.

Ahead, Yan turned an imperious gaze over her shoulder, though she seemed to be biting her tongue. Irene knew well what that gaze meant though, and she stepped quickly to catch up, the others having left her behind in her lollygagging. The old lady walked ahead of Fú and the two siblings, unbothered by the steady pace even with her cane.

Fú turned an anxious gaze on her from his cart as she rejoined them, sitting awkwardly. “Are you sure you do not wish to ride, great one?” he asked. “It is the work of a moment to arrange-”

“No, thank you, it’s fine,” Irene said. Perhaps another time she would enjoy the almost fawning obeisance, but not when she was being escorted to kill some kind of wizard and his bandit gang. “I want to break in these lovely boots.”

Lovely they were indeed. She couldn’t remember if she had ever worn footwear so comfortable, and combined with the black hanfu she wore, she was in danger of gaining a certain level of appreciation for similar comforts. Hóuchéng City would have more like them, she was sure of it, and the bandits would have loot…all she had to do to get it was kill them.

“Of course, great one,” Fú said.

“How far away is the bridge?” Irene asked abruptly, almost before he had finished speaking.

“Half a day, great one,” Hao said, walking to the side of the cart.

Irene realised she had asked that before leaving. “Distance, I mean.”

“Twenty li, perhaps?” Hao said.

“Ah, of course,” Irene said, like she knew how far that was. So now she had a walk of at least a few hours ahead, and a fight to the death at the end of it. What a fantastic time to be alone with her thoughts.

“We could get there faster,” Huan said, hair swishing about her ears as she walked.

“And how would you know that?” Hao said, head slowly turning to face his sister.

“I’ve heard people talking,” Huan said.

“Girl finishes her work quickly and sneaks off to explore,” Yan said, snitching mercilessly.

“Huan!”

“You did it too!” Huan said. “Jin told me what you were like!”

“That’s different!”

The siblings fell to squabbling, bumping shoulders and poking each other.

Irene watched for a time, distracted and entertained as she was treated to a speed recap of every wrong and indignity each sibling had ever subjected the other to. The wheels of the cart trundled along noisily, and briefly, Irene was able to ignore where they were going, and why.

Then she remembered of course, and grimaced. Going out for a walk through the countryside was a rare enough occurrence for her, let alone doing so to slay bandits and oh she really needed a new distraction.

“Do you usually wait for a grea- a cultivator to pass through to deal with bandits?” Irene asked Yan.

The old lady hummed, punctuated by the steady crunch of her cane in the dirt with every other step. “We would be waiting for a long time, if we did,” Yan said. “Very little happens in our slice of the world that would draw the attention of cultivators.”

“Is that what drew Xiang Yu here?” Irene asked.

“Who can say?” Yan said, shrugging. “Likely he just wanted to lick his wounds after fleeing his sect.”

“So he might still be wounded then,” Irene said, feeling a brief sliver of optimism.

“I don’t see what reason you have to worry,” Yan said, seeing right through her. “Not with that hilt at your hip.”

“It’s not mine,” Irene confessed.

Yan snorted. “I know.”

“What? How??”

“Sunswords aren’t found under every log or in any old chest,” Yan said. “That you, a human, bears one at all says much.”

“What-”

“Then you judge this rogue to be beneath Ir- her- Lady Irene’s notice?” Yangjie interrupted, less than smoothly.

Irene held her tongue, understanding Yangjie’s intent to disguise her ignorance.

Yan increased her pace, just enough to get further ahead of Fú and the still squabbling siblings. “You will have to do better if you wish to conceal your origins,” she said.

For a moment, Irene stopped breathing, even as her heartbeat rocketed. Did the old woman know she was from another world? Could she know a way home?

“It is obvious that a House has lost a princess,” Yan continued. “Your rich Qi and naivety is clear to anyone with the eyes to see.”

“Oh,” Irene said, fighting the urge to sag. “That’s not, I mean, uh-”

“Pheh,” Yan said, the next step of her cane a particularly vicious stab. “Good for you, getting away from your guards and minders and spoonfed cultivation. You might avoid becoming another pampered princess with the purest of Qi, incapable of even the most basic menial tasks.”

“You understand why we cannot comment on such a supposition,” Yangjie said, voice like silk and far too meaningful for a head in a sling on her back.

“Of course,” Yan said.

“Wait, I thought you thought I was working with Xiang Yu,” Irene said.

“That was before I watched you this morning,” Yan said. “Such use of Qi, and you are still fresh.” She shook her head. “Great are the resources of the Houses to produce such cultivators.”

Croak, Charles said, proud.

“And then there’s him, I suppose,” Yan said. “Foolish to assume you just happened upon him in the forest and survived.”

“Haha, yeah,” Irene said. Internally, she was screaming. “It’s not like I just let him jump on my shoulder without knowing what he was.”

Croak, Charles said, incredibly smug.

“Still, there’s no reason to dismiss Xiang as a threat,” Yan said. “He must have survived the parting with his sect for a reason. I don’t need your House wiping my home from the ring when they follow your footsteps and find out you perished nearby.”

“Maybe he just quit and wandered off?” Irene said.

Yan shook her head. “One does not simply quit their sect.”

“Didn’t you?” Irene asked, before wincing. “Sorry, is that rude? You said you were a cultivator, but if you’ve been living out here…”

“I suppose I was the one to mention it,” Yan said, grumbling more for the sake of it than anything. “My injury was such that I was of no use to my sect, not even in death.”

“In death??”

“You think spirit beasts are the only creatures rendered down for pills?” Yan asked. “We humans are no less useful. More, if anything, depending on our ability.”

“Isn’t that like, super corrupting?” Irene asked, drawing on years of narrative recognition.

Yan chortled. “The core of a spirit beast is no different to the core of a cultivator. More likely to be attuned to a single focus, but that is all. What did they feed you atop your mountain? Snowpeak Phoenix? Shadow Leopard?”

“You know she will not answer that,” Yangjie cut in.

“Forgive an old woman her curiosity,” Yan said tartly. “Knowing which House might come to rescue or steal you would ease my mind.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“So, what,” Irene said, trying to wrap her mind around it. “If someone wants to leave a sect, the sect would kill them and use them for pills?”

“Some,” Yan said, as if turning people into drugs wasn’t unusual. She glanced down at Yangjie. “You will want to speed her education if you wish to hide her origins.”

“Our time together has been short,” Yangjie said, not quite affronted. “Rest assured that no student of mine will be found lacking.”

“She’s your student?” Huan asked suddenly, making them turn. The squabble had ended sometime during their discussion, and the young girl had overheard at least some of their conversation. “Is she not a great one?”

“Huan,” Hao said despairingly.

Yan looked visibly pained. “Your tongue will earn you great trouble one day. You are fortunate that Lady Irene has patience beyond most.”

“She doesn’t even have a title though,” Huan continued. “Don’t all great ones have titles? Like the Serene Peacock, or Tempestuous Zea-”

“Huan,” Hao said, stepping forward in a vain attempt to physically silence her. Fú was outright pale.

“Should I have a title?” Irene asked, looking over her shoulder as Huan dodged her brother. “Yangjie?”

“Such a thing is bestowed, rather than claimed,” he said delicately. “There are more without than with.”

“Ah,” Irene said, not particularly invested in it. The land was starting to change as they walked, the road was gaining a slight incline, the trees around them not quite as thick. On a branch nearby, she saw a family of the otter sugar glider creatures she had first seen just after her arrival, watching as their little group passed by. “Do you get many bandits here?” she asked. It seemed a very peaceful land.

“Some,” Yan said. “They do not have a rogue cultivator to protect them, however.”

“So you usually deal with it yourselves,” Irene said. She glanced at Yan’s cane, remembering how it had blocked her lightsaber.

“My son protects us,” Yan said. “But not this time.”

“Jin could have dealt with them,” Huan muttered, rebellious.

“No,” Yan said, “he could not.”

“But he’s a master swordsman! He killed a great one before!”

“Child,” Yan said, and now she just sounded tired. “You’ve heard the natter of gossips, but you do not know the full story.”

“Because no one wants to tell me!” Huan said, trying to hide the upset in her voice. “Not even Hao!”

“Elder Fan told me it was best to let some things lie,” Hao said. He looked away, off to the side.

“...I thought you knew,” Huan said.

“The only ones who know the full truth are my son and myself,” Yan said. “And those two old fools, I suppose,” she added, more to herself. She sighed. “I will tell you after the business of the day. You will understand, once you see.”

“See what?” Huan said.

There was no answer, Yan focusing on the walk, even when Huan huffed in annoyance. Irene was invested, but it seemed like she would have to wait to get her gossip exposition explanation. The cart trundled on, its driver trying very hard not to meet anyone’s eyes, and they grew ever closer to their destination.

The land continued to change, even if the road did not. Trees continued to thin, and there was even an open field to be seen here and there, old, old stone walls dividing them, though it was clear they had not been touched by any hand for some time. In the distance, just peeking up over the ‘horizon’, she could see mountaintops, capped by snow.

“How do you tell-” Irene cut herself off, only thinking her question through after starting it.

“Yes, great one?” Fú asked, the siblings caught up in their own conversation.

“What do you call your directions of travel?” Irene asked. “Like, we’re heading towards the daw- the dayturn, so what direction is that?”

“Upspin,” Fú said. “Downspin if we were to travel towards nightturn.”

“What about the shoulders?” Irene asked. “Of the ring.”

“Well, they’re the left and right shoulders, as you face upspin,” Fú said. “Do you…call them by another name in your House?”

“Something like that,” Irene said. Rather than reveal further ignorance, she spoke no more, taking in more of the countryside, though her eyes kept straying to the Ring as it rose up, looming in the distance.

There was no judging the time by the sun, not on this new world - ring - but they continued at a steady pace for what felt like a good few hours, stopping twice to rest briefly and water Goat the donkey. Charles showed interest in the pail he drank from, but turned his nose up at a muddy puddle, still moist enough from his bucket. Irene was keenly aware that every step brought them closer to the point where she would be expected to kill some actual human beings. Not evil copies, not tengu or hellhounds, but people. She had tried to kill the bandit the night before, but that was when she thought he was a cunning assassin, come to slay her in her sleep. This was a deliberate decision in the light of day. She tried to think about Fú and the wound he had suffered, and the other traders they had killed. It only helped a little.

After a time, Yan stopped suddenly, leaning on her cane. Despite her age and the pace she had set, she was breathing steadily if deeply, surveying the land before them. The trees had well and truly thinned now, more small copses here and there than continuous forest. The distant sound of rushing water could be heard, but there was no river to be seen.

“The canyon bridge is beyond that copse of trees,” Yan said, pointing with her cane. She glanced back at Irene. “Are you ready?”

Irene let out a breath. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.” She stepped forward, Yan yielding the lead to follow at her shoulder. The siblings followed at hers, and Fú brought up the rear.

“I could have brought my sword,” Huan muttered, not as quietly as she thought.

“You said Jin only let you use one for practice,” Hao said.

“If you had brought your sword, you would have felt compelled to use it,” Yan said.

“That’s the point,” Huan said, ignoring her brother, only to be ignored by Yan in turn.

They rounded the copse of trees, and as they did the bridge was revealed, as was the canyon it crossed. It was a wood and rope affair, but to call it such was to do it a disservice. Broad tree trunks acted as anchors for it, hammered into the earth, and it was wide enough for two carts to pass each other by on it, strong braided ropes almost the size of her torso suspending wooden planks. The canyon itself was maybe only a stone’s throw across, and it seemed to be the source of the sound of rushing water, unseen rapids within it.

On the bridge, at its centre, there was a figure kneeling, staring down the canyon.. Something about them pricked at Irene’s senses, like running her fingertips over a smooth surface only to find an imperfection. But they were not the only person present.

On the same side of the canyon, a messy camp had been made, four ill made tents and a slowly smoking fire to one side of the bridge. Two men sat by it, drinking from gourds, and a third was sprawled out in the dirt near them, asleep. All looked rough and unkempt, and none were unarmed. It did not take long for them to notice their arrival.

One of the drinkers looked up, and gave a sharp whistle. The other kicked the sleeper, waking them, and soon there was movement in the tents as two more stuck their heads out to see what the issue was. They grinned as they saw the newcomers, and Irene came to a stop a short ways from their ugly little camp.

The five men began to approach, sauntering forward without a care in the world. They were dirty, and the wind changed, blowing their stench before them, and Irene wrinkled her nose in disgust. Behind her, Hao shifted to stand in front of Huan. They stopped a short distance from them, spreading out.

“Well well, lookee here lads, more customers,” one bandit said, yellow grin revealing missing teeth. “You know you gotta pay the toll, right?”

“Have you been murdering travellers?” Irene asked. She felt strange, like she wasn’t fully present in her own body.

“Now, what kind of question is that, girlie?” the apparent leader asked. He scratched at the gut straining at his rough tunic, protruding despite his muscled arms. “You don’t pay the toll, you can’t complain about what comes to ya.”

“We’re not paying your toll, scum!” Huan shouted out.

Laughter came from the men, their hands going to knives and clubs.

“Aww, ain’t that a real shame,” the bandit said. “But you’ll be paying all the same.” He hefted his knife, more a cleaver than anything. “What do you reckon boys, three cuts for them, and then a pair of gash for us!”

“Nothin’ to spend coin on out here anyway,” another said.

“You’ll still lose the mouthy one to me over cards all the same,” a skinny one with a broken nose said, sniggering.

“Maybe, but I’ll still’ve had her first,” another joked, like he was talking about sport.

“Nah fuck off, it’s my turn to get first,” the last argued.

Irene suddenly found herself with far fewer moral quandaries over what she came here to do. Her lightsaber slipped into her hand, and she held it towards them. She thought about making a quip, or something that would let them know they were about to die, but she couldn’t find the will for it. Not for monsters like these.

Under the light of the Heart, the golden glow of her lightsaber was almost unseen. Its effects were not, and a moment later there were thuds, as each half of the two corpses fell to the ground. The scent of burning pork filled the air as the remaining bandits stared at what had been their fellows, one of them their leader.

For a long moment, no one moved. The lightsaber flickered soundlessly, Irene’s focus wavering as she stared at the smoking corpses. Then, comprehension.

“Bitch!” a bandit howled, rushing her with his cudgel in thoughtless rage.

Yan stepped forward, cane raised. It poked him in the chest and he stopped like he had hit a steel bar, collapsing with a wail. Whatever the old lady had done, it was not kind, and his howls only rose in volume.

Croak, Charles said, eyebrows bristling as he pulled his head in on himself, pained by the noise. He spat poison, and the blue liquid hit the bandit in the face, bubbling and hissing. The screams rose, then cut off suddenly.

The other two bandits moved suddenly, not to charge, but to flee. The abruptness startled Irene all the same, and she flinched not just physically, but with her power. Her phantom limb lashed out with a thrum of air, and it hit one bandit low in the back, folding him almost in half such was the force of it. He was sent flying, body broken, and disappeared into the canyon without a sound.

Her gaze went to the sole surviving bandit, feet pounding on wood as he fled across the bridge. It was too large and solid to sway with the energy of his flight, but he was stuck on it, no room to do anything but run in a straight line. There would be no avoiding her next attack.

Irene hesitated. He was a foul excuse for a human being…but he was fleeing. Could she stab someone in the back as they ran, someone of no danger to her? He had almost reached the kneeling figure on the bridge, halfway across.

The figure on the bridge rose, turning towards them. His hair was long and black, almost as long as Yangjie’s had once been, and he straightened his fingers into a blade on one hand, gesturing dismissively.

The fleeing bandit went limp, head flopping backwards to stare at them as blood poured from his throat. All that connected his head to his neck was his spine, and then he was tumbling forward to come to a rest before the man that killed him. The man - it could only be Xiang Yu - stepped over him without a second thought, walking calmly towards them.

Irene steeled herself. She had defeated Puddle, slain the tengu in an instant. She could handle this…and yet, something about the attractive man slowly approaching, pleasant smile on his face, sent a shiver down her spine. She stepped forward all the same, away from those with her, stopping in the open space before the bridge.

Xiang stepped off the bridge and stopped, keeping a short distance between them. Eyes the colour of honey traced her from foot to crown. She had to consciously prevent her lip from curling in disgust, putting on the face she reserved for dealing with hospital admins that didn’t have a clue. He was unfairly attractive, slender yet strong, but still his gifts couldn’t hide the arrogance and unthinking cruelty that lurked behind his eyes. His grey hanfu had once been fine, but it bore the signs of hard use and a recent lack of care. Whatever he saw in her, she couldn’t tell.

For a long moment, they regarded each other, until he spoke.

“‘And lo, a work of sublime jade came before him, and his eyes could see her perfection.’,” Xiang recited. He was smiling, as if he had met a friend while out for a stroll.

Unbidden, Irene’s heart skipped a beat - not at the compliment paid to her, but because she suddenly realised that she was actually getting a xianxia showdown. It was a crime that there was no theme music rising in the background.

“Your eyes can see what is clear, but your feet trail muck with every step,” Irene said, thinking quickly. Was that too campy? Oh she hoped it wasn’t too campy.

Xiang’s eyes flashed with poorly hidden anger, but he barely twitched otherwise. “Her words are cruel, to speak so harshly on matters of poor circumstance, and companions unsought.”

“You’re quick to kill them, but that didn’t stop you from letting them help you rob travellers,” Irene accused.

“Hel-!” Xiang began, nostrils flaring, but he cut himself short. “I understand. You do not know my power.”

“I know you killed people, and enabled these bandits to do horrible things,” Irene said. The reality of the situation was enough to douse her sense of adventure. “I know enough.”

“You don’t,” Xiang said. He smiled again, but this time there wasn’t even a pretence of kindness. “But I can show you.” He dropped into a martial stance of some kind, hand forming a blade again, and took a dramatic step forward, striking at nothing.

Gold light bloomed, and a barrier sprung into existence. Xiang finished his gesture, and something rippled against the shield, just off centre to her head.

“Did you just try to cut my ear off?” Irene asked.

Xiang’s eyes widened in disbelief. He didn’t appear to have heard her words. “But - how?!? I have taken the Thousand Cuts style to its ultimate potential!”

“Maybe you’re just not very good at it,” Irene said. She readied her grip on her lightsaber, but she would have to lower the barrier to strike.

“You dare?!” Xiang said, incensed. His gaze turned on the others behind her, a hateful look on his face. “You will regret mocking me!” His arm came up, knife hand ready to strike at them.

Irene traded one golden glow for another, her lightsaber lancing out to pierce him - but he read her intent, and flowed out of the way. She swept her weapon to the side, seeking to cut him in half as she had the bandits, but he flipped over it with ease, and every step brought him closer to her. He was on her then, hand seeking her throat, far too fast to dodge.

Croak, Charles said, eyebrows bristling with his fury, and his cheeks bulged.

By instinct, Xiang aborted his strike, spinning around the lethal attack, and the poison shot past him to land in the dirt, but he was already flowing into another strike. Irene took advantage, disappearing with a crack, and then she was behind him.

Xiang was already flipping away, reestablishing distance, his feet sliding through the dirt as he landed away to the right of the bridge, eyes wide. “Fast!” He looked between her and the others from his new position, no longer blocked from them, and smirked. “But foolish, too.” Another knife hand strike at thin air, but this time it was aimed at Huan.

The golden barrier formed, much too slow to spread to cover them all, and Hao shouted in denial. Xiang’s hand came down, as if to cleave her from shoulder to hip - but it was not to be. Yan was there, cane spinning, and she grunted as if warding off a physical blow.

“Children ought to mind their betters,” she said. “Try that again, and I will rethink your worth to my student as a lesson.”

Xiang only laughed. “I can sense your crippled foundation, you old hag!” he said, gloating. “Your feeble show of false power does not cow me!” He struck again, and again Yan defended, but this time the strain on her was clear, and she fell to one knee with a cry.

Her heart leapt into her throat, and without conscious thought she Apparated between Xiang and the others. Yangjie gave a faint groan at her back, but there was no time to remove him.

“You talk yourself up, but every chance you get you attack the defenceless,” Irene said. Yan’s bluff hadn’t worked, but this might. “You’re not a powerful cultivator. You’re just a coward.”

An ugly look crossed his face, hate and rage and embarrassment wiping away any trace of attractiveness. “You will rue the day,” he said, voice low.

A flurry of blows came without warning, no telegraphed knife hand this time, and she flinched as a small but painful cut opened on her cheek.

Irene summoned her golden barrier desperately. It did not save her, more cuts appearing on her face and arms as she raised them protectively, and she heard Xiang give a shout of triumph as he sliced and struck at the air, at her. He raised his arm in the knife strike that would take her head, and brought it down without hesitation.

Nothing happened, the barrier again rippling as it blocked his attack.

“What?!?” Xiang spluttered.

Her face was stinging, but pain was temporary. Her blood was up, but her mind was clear. He had just tried to kill her, but he had failed. He was a more experienced fighter, a more experienced killer, but now he was gaping in shock - and she had a lightsaber.

It was a crime that it gave no sound as the blade erupted from its hilt, twenty feet long in an instant. Xiang had the presence of mind enough to leap, but that just meant her blade cut through his knees rather than his waist, and he screamed as he landed heavily on the ground. A moment later, he appeared to pass out in shock, screams stilling.

Irene turned to face her companions. “Are you ok Yan??”

“I am well enough,” Yan said, pushing herself to her feet with her cane. She seemed to be leaning on it in truth now, not just as a prop.

Her gaze went to the others, just in case. Hao and Huan were staring at her, open mouthed, while Fú had his head bowed in respect. “What about you three? Sorry Goat, four.”

“Beware!” “Look out!”

Yangjie’s warning had her whirling, and her eyes widened at what she saw. Xiang had somehow launched himself at her through the air, teeth bared in a crazed snarl. Metal glinted in his fist.

Someone pushed past her, and there was the sound of steel piercing flesh, and then a wet gasp. A woman screamed.