Two boys were cycling in a wasteland. Sun was high above them, casting red rays of light across the yellow and brown earth. There was a heat that one could only encounter at the peak of summer, humid, though why it was humid had no answer, and painfully piercing. Even with their 8th level Qi Condensation cultivations, this duo could not stay unperturbed.

Passing through foot-long wild grass, ruffling the weeds and raising dust, they travelled.

''It is too hot!''

Li Ao kept wiping his forehead—edges of his sleeves long turned grayish-yellow from sweat.

''It tends to be like that.''

''Damn—''

Li Ao un-wove the sash binding his robes and pedalled half-naked. Beads of sweat rolled down his skinny body, gathering at the faint protrusions of bones near his chest.

''Huff!''

''Why are you so weak?'' Zhu Qiu asked. He whistled, and his legs moved up and down at a stable pace even while they were going above a hundred kilometres an hour. The man seemed to enjoy the bike much more than he showed.

''I haven't been training for, like, five years.''

''Why is that?''

''Long story,'' Li Ao spat out, then turned to look around them. ''I see nothing.''

Ignoring his last remark, Zhu Qiu laughed. ''We have a long way ahead!''

Li Ao thought for a moment. Holding one hand on the spare railing, he put the other under his chin. ''How long?''

''Long enough for you tell.''

''Do you enjoy one-liners, or are you making fun of me?''

''Bit of both.''

''Bastard—''

Letting out another pleased laugh, Zhu Qiu rode over a small hill. His head bobbed up and down with the bumps, and Li Ao noticed his gaze moving haphazardly across the rolling plains.

''If you don't want to tell, it is fine. I can just tell my own story.''

''...you know, my grandfather told me once—people tend to ask questions they want to answer.''

''What is wrong with that?'' Zhu Qiu waved one hand in the air. ''Even if I want to answer, can I not really be curious about it?''

''It depends on what you want more. Did you ask to hear my story, or did you ask to answer yourself? It is the intent.''

''Intent...''

They had been riding for over an hour, and by that time nothing opposed their coming. Few times, to their collective dismay, they felt rumblings that seemed to come from the depths of the wasteland. Something moved, but they had no idea if it was an earthquake, or just an 'it'.

''You take on for a while.''

They stopped to have a short snack—Li Ao kept himself sated with Spirit Stones, which was not a humane way to live, but they had no choice. Zhu Qiu had a flask that produced water with Qi, though, so they did not lack any water. Ten minutes later Li Ao sat on the front seat and biked away.

''I—''

Zhu Qiu spoke in a loud voice.

''—am not a true member of the Zhu Clan.''

''Illegitimate child?''

''Indeed. It is not a terrible thing by itself, but not being acknowledged by your only family does leave a man bitter.''

''Are you just bitter?'' Li Ao rounded a dark pit. It had a few claw marks at its depths that made him more cautious.

''I am only bitter, not petty, and certainly not without honor.''

'Honor.'

That was Li Ao's impression of the man. Honorable sort, if what he read was any true, tended to be more trusting and kinder than most. Zhu Qiu wasn't the helping sort, but he was a trusting man.

The answer also gave Li Ao an inkling to the content of the news.

'Is it a treachery?'

''I've been training since I was fifteen in physical arts. It is actually commendable that you can keep up with me.''

''Well, thank you?''

''You are too stiff.'' Zhu Qiu slapped his shoulder, laughing. ''There is another pit, there.''

Li Ao looked to their left, but saw nothing for a minute. He noticed a small, irregular line only then, and once he passed by observed that it indeed was a pit much smaller than the one before.

''That is another result of my training.''

''Show-off.''

Grumbling, he detoured another pit, a little bigger than both. ''Why did you train your body?''

''In case something like this happened.''

Zhu Qiu's voice seemed to falter.

''Huh. I didn't imagine Zhu Clan would raise their illegitimate children as suicide soldiers.''

''Nor did I, and my mother.''

''Are you truly just bitter?''

''...you are quite bad at baiting.''

Li Ao grimaced, but Zhu Qiu just sighed.

''Liao—''

''Li Ao, I said before. It is separate.''

''Liao, Li Ao, Ao Li, does it matter? It is just a name.''

''It is important to me.''

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''...Li Ao. Why do you want to practice these...underhanded stuff? I can see you aren't cut out for espionage—''

Before Li Ao could retort, he felt a finger poke his left back.

''I don't mean experience. I mean your character.''

Li Ao mumbled to himself, thought for a moment, then spoke in a few half-truths.

''I have an important job to do, and I need to be ready for a myriad situations to survive. Helping you is a part of my job as well.''

''What kind of a job is it?''

''Not something in your reach.''

''I see.'' Zhu Qiu whistled. ''Is it truly that dangerous?''

''What? Did our job suddenly become easier? Geez...''

''I really don't understand some of your remarks. But all is well...''

There they did not speak for a while, and Li Ao saw a whole lot more pits around them. At this point he had to make constant turns and sudden swerves to avoid these.

''Begin by training your body.''

''Huh?'' Li Ao cast a glance behind him.

''The tracking practices of the current times are mostly dependant on Qi. So long as you keep moving without using Qi, it becomes harder to track you. Since you can keep your shit for a few days and not leave footprints at higher cultivation realms, primitive methods are quite unreliable.''

''Once you train your body to a decent degree, no amateur can catch you in a lifetime.''

Li Ao thought of the minimal Qi Zhu Qiu had used on their way, as well as his methods.

''Having good eye-sight and hearing is vital, too. Unless you are a Core Formation cultivator, your Divine Sense will fail you nine out of ten times. The ability to spot danger before it encroaches will always give you an edge.''

''That is the foundation you need to build before learning any other thing. Since you haven't trained in a long time, that will also help you regain a sense of discipline.''

''I see.'' Li Ao nodded. He thought for a while more, certain memories in estate flashed past his mind, and he nodded again.

''Thank you.''

''It is just small talk.''

Even as he said so, Zhu Qiu had a silly, proud smile on his face that made Li Ao want to bash it in. Why was this guy so cheeky?

''What about professionals? What do they use?''

His question caused the smile to disappear from Zhu Qiu's face.

''Divination is the scariest one. Other than that, formations and aura talismans are the deadliest ones. There are certain kinds of talismans produced out of general populace's sight that can separate your soul's aura from other traces and point to your general location.''

''Sh*t, isn't that too powerful?''

''Unfortunately.''

Another hour went by as the Sun began to descend, and Li Ao gave the control back to Zhu Qiu. They made small talk on the way and Li Ao soaked Zhu Qiu's years of experience in traveling and training like a dry sponge. There was only benefit to knowing more, since the last two weeks made evident his most fatal shortcomings.

*********

''I see a group. Five people.''

Zhu Qiu's voice woke Li Ao from his meditation. Two days of constant travel wore down his mind.

''Armed?''

''Cloaked.''

''Do we speed up?''

''I'm deciding right now.''

Li Ao looked towards Zhu Qiu's line of sight, and indeed saw a few dots. But they were just dots. He couldn't see any details of them.

''Do we need to speed up?''

Li Ao's question made Zhu Qiu grunt. It was an approval to go on.

''Let's just keep the same pace and be ready to strike. I can deal with most people at long-ranges.''

''It is reasonable.'' Zhu Qiu nodded. ''We will rush into them, then.''

Li Ao obliged. Wiping his nape with the dangling sleeve of his robe, he circulated Scarlet Path in a discreet manner. Unlike a few days ago, his Qi was now much more controlled. It was a small margin but it made a great difference here.

''Four kilometers.''

A candle-light lit at the tip of Li Ao's ten fingers. Zhu Qiu's muscles tensed, but the bike still kept going a little over a hundred kilometers per hour.

''Three kilometers.''

By now the other side seemed to move closer to them—they were spotted—and from their pace it didn't seem to be a friendly approach.

''Two kilometers.''

Li Ao took a deep breath, then let it out. He could see two of them take out bows and nock arrows from this distance. The three at the front had metallic white spears gleaming under the sun.

''One kilometre.''

A whistle echoed in the empty blue sky, and Zhu Qiu slammed his feet on the pedals. Several cranks echoed as he changed the gears, then surroundings started to flash by them.

Li Ao shot to his feet and two large fireballs came to be in his palms.

''Come to your master, you dogs!''

He hurled both balls over the approaching three towards the bowyers.

Startled, cursing with a shout, the bowmen broke apart and started running at different directions. The fireballs exploded behind them, but to their surprise another pair followed.

''Ehehehehe!''

Feeling invincible, Li Ao kept hurling fireballs until the bowmen had quite a lot of distance between them.

''Duck!''

Li Ao turned his head and a spear light cut his right cheek. A thin slice spewed blood.

The bike shook, zigzagged across the terrain, but the three men seemed to break their physical boundaries as they kept pace.

''You son of a dog!''

Li Ao stumbled upon the bike, put one hand over Zhu Qiu's shoulder to balance himself. He now felt a lot less confident, but also that much more furious, and pushed his empty palm outward. Scarlet Path circulated, and a lance appeared in his hand.

''Let's go!'' He shouted.

''Are we a fucking cavalry!? Are you mad!?''

The bike whistled by a pit, then another, until Zhu Qiu had to slow down to take control of the turns. The three behind, as well as the far away bowmen started approaching again.

''We are being goaded.''

''I can see that! Just deal with them somehow!''

Li Ao sat with his back to Zhu Qiu and pointed the flaming lance to the incoming three.

A red point of light rose from the lance's tip, excruciatingly bright and hot, and in a moment exploded forth.

A beam cleaved dozens of meters of earth and struck the one at the front. Their speed was too great, and their reflexes couldn't catch up, so the beam seared apart flesh and blood. Pieces of ashen lungs and guts fell out of the man's body. He fell, and died.

Li Ao looked at the corpse for a brief moment, feeling more pity than guilt, and focused another point of light. The two bow-men were now nocking their arrows again but they found it difficult to aim at the speedy vehicle.

Also, whatever drug they used seemed to wear off. Their faces seemed flushed and dark.

''They are winded.''

''Alright—''

Zhu Qiu made a U turn and swerved back. Li Ao stood up again, faced the front, and put his lance forward.

''Oh fuck off with that!''

''It works!''

''I am not a horse!''

Seeing the lance flash with scarlet light, the two spearmen shot sideways. Behind them, one of the bowmen paled, but the beam had already reached his position. With a leap, he lost his leg.

Li Ao's lance dispersed.

''One moment—''

Taking out a bottle of Qi Gathering pills, he poured all of them into his mouth. A rush of Qi overrode his nervous system, sending pleasurable waves of relief, but Li Ao used the feedback to form another lance.

''Let's go you sons of dogs!''

Zhu Qiu biked over a pit, and the beam swerved, missing its target.

In an instant, almost forty arrows rained down on them.

''Holy shit!''

Li Ao let go of the lance and pushed both palms upward. A half-sphere of flames covered their heads.

Constant ripples and tremors shook them. Qi constantly drained from Li Ao, and his face paled again. But the arrow hail didn't seem to stop at any point.

''Fuck, I can't do anything else!''

''No need—''

Li Ao saw Zhu Qiu disappear. Losing his source of balance, he fell over the bike and barely held onto the handles. The front wheel swerved and tumbled.

''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!''

The bike leaned left, then right, and tottered at the edge of falling down.

His hands clamped the brakes and Li Ao came to a sudden halt. His figure shot like a rocket with the bike in tow and rolled a dozen times on the ground. He laid a hundred meters away, groaning.

He had no time to waste, however. Clamping his left arm, Li Ao rose to see Zhu Qiu move between two spearmen like a shadow. His body seemed ethereal, almost untouchable, and his fists and kicks always found true at a fatal spot.

By the time Li Ao properly stood up, they fought fifty rounds and the two spearmen fell down, defeated.

'Fuck, and I said I could kill him?'

This guy was a monster.

Dreading so, Li Ao noticed the lack of arrows overhead and, in panic, looked all over. He turned left and right, and saw a pair of black dots trying to run away.

Leaping onto the bike, Li Ao started pedalling with all his might towards the faster dot. Zhu Qiu was already chasing the other one.

Scenery flashed past him as he approached, and he heard a whistle pass by his ear. Li Ao felt warm blood, but had no time to give more notice to it.

In his vision, another dozen arrows shot straight at him.

Bending his body down, Li Ao zigzagged, dodging the arrows. The bowman started running backwards in response and nocked flashing black Qi arrows, firing over a wide area.

One palm pointed up, the other still on the handles, Li Ao shot out a pillar of unfocused flames. Some of the arrows shattered, the others slowed down, but none hit true, and Li Ao now stood ten meters away from the bowman.

''Go away!''

''Fuck off—''

Li Ao slammed his feet on the pedals and crossed the last few meters. A fire lance sprung out of his hands and pierced the bowman by his left shoulder, raising him. With one twist of his wrist, he smashed the man onto the ground.

A crack echoed, and the man fainted from pain. Like a head stuck on a spear, as if a trophy, Li Ao dragged the bowman back towards Zhu Qiu. The latter came back with a severed head in his arms.

''You...''

''Ehehehehe~'' Li Ao patted his chest. ''I said it would work!''

''...''