"Even better?"

Hovering effortlessly on a floating broadsword, the man presented a picture straight out of an ink painting. His long, dark green hair, so deep in hue it was almost black, cascaded down his back, swaying gently with the movements of his flying sword. He was clad in robes of the palest blue, adorned with cloud motifs, lending him the air of a kind, benevolent cultivator. One who traversed the three realms and consorted with immortals to plead the case of the poor and downtrodden.

Yet, there was an unsettling aspect to his appearance – the mask he wore. It was an eerie white, stark against his gentle attire, with scarcely any features to soften its presence. Only a small, clover-shaped jewel adorned its cheek, a touch of opulence on the otherwise featureless facade.

The jewel's gold-ish brown hue seemed almost alive, and upon closer inspection, one could see tiny hands, like miniature captives, embedded within it, as if trapped forever in a glassy mirror. Shaking, pleading their case…

…With no answer.

"Yes, even better," The mask smiled, almost like a second skin.

"How did you find us?" Granny Laohu whispered, her voice coming out so soft it was almost quieter than a breath.

"Oh, well, I had to pay my visits?"

"YOU-" The tiger roared, jumping down from the island's cliff. It landed in the air, glaring vehemently at the man. A dark growl…

"Kidding," The man laughed, as the mask laughed with it, but with a little delay. "Geesh, control your pet, will you? No-no-no, I didn't come here to visit you, although that would have been nice. No, I came here because a stupid boy stole from us from a little cave nearby."

"And… what a coincidence, I followed the scent and came here." He chuckled heartily.

"The boy…" Granny Laohu racked her head. No, Zero would have never been so careless to lead someone back here. Then that only left…

"Oh, don't get me wrong. It was very hard to trace the boy. The smell of him was like rain. I almost couldn't find him." The man answered with a tap on his cheek, like he was thinking. "But I guess I am one of the better trackers out there."

He laughed again.

"Miss me?"

His tone dropped.

"I hoped you did."

"What did you do to the others?" Granny Laohu asked, brushing off the man's words. Though her voice was steady, it carried a steely undercurrent.

"The others?" The man tilted his head like he was thinking again. His eyes seemed to light up under the mask.

"Oh, the others…" The mask seemed to tilt up into a subtle smile. "You mean the ones in this forest?"

He giggled. "I killed them."

"YOU-" The tiger, finally done with playing 'good kitty', pounced forward at the man at a speed that would have turned a car into a tin-can.

—But the man was faster.

BAM!

With a brush of his arm, the tiger slammed into the cliff, forming a tiger-shaped imprint on the poor mountain.

"Pets shouldn't talk when their masters are speaking. Now, be a good kitty and I'll get you some catnip later." The man laughed into his robe, "Or maybe not, I have bills to pay!"

"Rent is so expensive these days." The man sighed, turning his hands up as if to say: 'lucky you, living on a mountain.'

"Actually," The man looked at Granny Laohu again, laughing, "I didn't kill anyone, stop looking so serious!"

"Really…" Granny Laohu said, looking back at the tiger, who was groaning.

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"I'm not that cruel," The man grasped his heart, like he was hurt at the thought, "No, they're just sleeping. At least…"

"... for now."

Granny Laohu began to trot on the air to check up on the tiger, her hooves clinking with a faint chime-

"But you really shouldn't take your eyes off me."

Suddenly, the sword under the man's feet flew through the air, aiming for Granny Laohu's back.

Granny Lao-Hu's frame disappeared along with the chimes, before gradually appearing in cloudy after-images. She turned around.

The sword, gleaming with a metallic light, came soaring back – this time, aiming for her head.

Granny disappeared again, then again, and again… reappearing in swirls of mist. Her figure materialized from the cloudy after-images, before disappearing into the sunlight, weaving through the sword and creating little cloud trails in the sky.

"Is that all you got?" Granny Laohu said, her voice calm. Her eyes flashed, and the air around her crackled into pieces and screams…

–Bzt.

BZT… zt-zt-zT-ZT–

—The air pleaded for her to stop, but it was in vain. Lighting had already wrapped its electric embrace around her.

Flying back, the broadsword made a futile attempt to pierce through the crackling barrier of lightning.

"I knew that wouldn't work," The man dryly said. "Was just trying to keep you on your toes."

Unfettered, the sword flew back to him. He whispered something to it, maybe soft nothings? Empty promises? Whatever it was, it seemed to work, and the sword began to glow.

"Heaven's Thirty-Six Strikes!" he declared, unleashing a torrent of sword energy that poured towards Granny Laohu like a waterfall of light.

Granny Laohu dodged, turning into mist again, but…

This time, the sword grew and split into thirty-six separate strands that cut through the mist and clouds themselves, like a snow-flake's six fractals, but thirty six of them, which began to expand and expand at an impossible speed, until there was no way to go…

Drip…

Little cuts dripped down blood from their source. Granny Laohu took a breath, the wounds stinging, but still bearable. Her gaze still cut through, as if saying 'really, that's all?'

"Ah, your scales are so tough." The man clapped excitedly. "Ahem, ignore that cup I placed below you. It's to collect your blood. Wouldn't want a single drop to go to waste."

She looked down. Several meters below her, a golden cup was floating in the air, greedily collecting the drops that escaped her wounds.

"I can't remember what that cup is called…" The man continued, "Nestor's boundless cup? Or maybe it's Hercule's Lern-oan… Lern-nean chalice? Blah, heroes! I can't tell the difference.

"Whatever it is, I got it for a good price!" The man nodded, his mask shaking with the movement.

'From one of the god's yard sales. By the way, you should go there. So many bargains!"

"Almost forgot we aren't friends," The man frowned, saddened, before shaking it off. "No matter, next time, I'll bring you with me. But maybe to an auction house or something… after all, a qilin like you would fetch a fat sum!"

"Oh please, I'm not trying to kill you!" The masked man apologetically smiled, humility running through his stance. "You would fetch so much more alive! What do you say? You sell yourself off, your forest stays squeaky clean and happy! Good deal?!"

With a stomp of her hoof, Granny Laohu summoned a storm of leaves.

"Not a good deal…?" The mask's lip seemed to lift. "Could have just said no."

The bundle of leaves softly and gently drifted towards the cultivator. The man, floating on air, blocked the leaves with his sword, but the leaves simply bumped into the sword and fell off.

"What are these pitiful leaves?" The man laughed. "Do they catch on fire?"

The mask laughed with the man, hysterically.

"Please tell me they're supposed to do something?" The man howled. "No, please!"

He slapped his knee.

"Let me guess, they're a distraction?" The man looked around, before letting out another snicker.

"Close…" Granny Laohu said, the edge of the word lifting up a bit. "No, they're the leaves of a Datura plant. Or more aptly, a Divaswapna Datura."

"A Diva's Da-what-now?" The man frowned.

"I always told you to pay more attention to botany and the life around you." Granny Laohu sighed. "Plants aren't boring. Animals aren't just meant to be used-"

"Blah-blah-blah," The man sneered. "Skip to the point."

"The English name of this particular type of Datura is a Daydreamer's Datura. One of the dream-walker's banes." Granny's voice came out nice and strong, "Those who immerse themselves too deeply in their dreams often fall victim to their own demons."

The man tried to move, but the world around him started to warp and shake.

"Sleep paralysis. Funny how the world balances things? For most, the Daydreamer's Datura helps prevent sleep paralysis. But for dreamwalkers… it has the opposite effect."

"...Sweet dreams."

"You…" The man's words slurred. "You kn-oo… woo-ent win in a real fw-ight…"

"Really," the qilin's eyes stared at him.

Clouds formed behind her and began showing countless scenarios. Different fights, different moves… each branching out into more and more scenarios.

"Of course, we both didn't go all the way out." Granny Laohu concurred, "But the truth is you wouldn't have won a single time against me."

The clouds began to play the endings… every single one had the man defeated. Toppled. Over-thrown from his mighty sword, into the muddy dirt. In some of the visions, only pieces of a fractured sword remained.

"You would have said something like… this isn't my true power." She let out a bitter laugh, "We would have a bigger battle, causing this entire forest to shake. We would go back and forth, winning and losing." Granny's voice grew softer. "We would both have our minor victories and major losses. But every time I would get the upper hand, you would see that the end was near and then go back on your word. You would threaten all their lives again, using them as a bargaining chip. And I wouldn't be able to save them all."

The clouds began showing a forest half-on fire. Half drowned. Half dying…

"...This was the only way."