Hu Shui walked behind him. He had given her a long tongue lashing while keeping his persona. She had attempted to argue back but a frown and stare did its job. There was no arguing with her safety. He would not hear a single thing.

There will be no Baba Yaga shit going around them. Not at all.

He would not allow anything of that nature to occur regardless of the situation. And in order for that to happen, they needed to follow a prevention system. Not look for a solution after you’ve contracted the disease.

No walking alone in the forests.

“B-But what about the weapons! Mo Mo is strong! He’ll protect me.” She had complained.

Stumping him for a moment. If the toy hammer was as strong as he felt it was, then there was little to worry about. But he couldn’t allow himself to get out worked by a frickin child!

“Have you talked to him?”

She froze. “N-no.”

“Seen him?”

Shui deflated visibly. “No.”

“There you have it. That’s the end of the conversation.” He said with finality. They were getting close, he felt, to where Xinyi should be.

“W-what about the half-beast–” She pointed behind her.

Yin Hu cut her off. It was time to bring his foot down. “That’s enough.” Little kids did things even to their own detriment if they could get a moment of fun. It was the job of adults who could think and see the dangers to keep them safe.

A child with a gun never thinks of the consequences of pointing it around, finger on the trigger.

That led to her head hanging low for the past few minutes of their walk. Until they eventually made it to a war torn section of the forest.

Yin Hu stared at what could have been aptly described as the epicenter of a category Three Hurricane. He couldn’t help but gape and the devastated terrain. Broken trees were strewn about the entire area. Large gashes and smoking areas covered the ground.

None more than a literal ravine in the very middle of it all.

What the fuck could cause something that deep into the ground? That has to be at least four fucking meters down!

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“Ancestor.” Xinyi gasped out loud with a satisfied smile on her face.

It was only then did he notice her. Yin Hu frowned. Something in his chest ached and stomach churned. She looked beaten. Her cloak was on the ground, robe torn up in a million spots, but it was the blood that made him freeze.

She was soaked in it. How she even stood there was a miracle. Yin Hu could expect her to keel over at any second.

But it never happened. She just jogged towards him, high lunging across the two meter wide ravine. Hu Shui jumped into her embrace, hiding her upset face in Xinyi's cut up robe.

Yin Hu walked towards the cape. It was still in pristine condition, even the muck and mud had been washed off through the special ability of all his clothing. His hands shook.

Xinyi arrived before him, her sword held in her hand.

When she got closer, he had to look away. He could see the cuts from this distance. The endless number that littered the bare skin on her body, face and neck untouched.

Didn’t Cai Xuefang make it out as a friendly spar? Wasn’t it just some punk Young Master Xinyi was supposed to beat on a little? Why the fuck was she so hurt?! Why was she bleeding so much?!

He surveyed the surroundings, looking past the destruction. Splats of blood covered the ground. If he had to guess, it was her blood.

Xinyi bowed. He was forced to face her.

“Thank you, Ancestor. I have learned in a mere moment more than a lifetime. It has been your grace that allowed it.” The conviction behind those words hurt Yin Hu. She believed them wholeheartedly.

He placed a hand on her head. Patting her.

She looked up with a giant smile. “The sword you have gifted me teaches me now. I met its spirit and built an unbreakable bond. I worried I would never be able to connect with it. But its loyalty to you outweighs everything else. With just a swing of my sword–”

She began to regal him of how she won the battle. Long flowered words that were probably overexaggerated the situation with shadow dragons and giants as tall as mountains. But he listened with a maelstrom in his mind.

He stared down the ravine she had created where Cai Xuefang had apparently blocked her unblockable attack. She even promised him that it would only get stronger if she was able to solidify her core and eventually move into the Immortal realms.

Two things could not escape his mind. No matter how hard he tried.

The first and most important was a simple thought. If she needed him, actually needed him, as in death and life…

Would he be able to intervene? Save her? Save himself? The thought of there being no spirit to act as a Firewall only pressed the situation more. He had to get stronger. Or at least figure out his strength.

It was important to do so as soon as possible.

But the second point arrived in front of him. And that threw a damper to the entire thing.

He stared down at the bottom of the ravine. His eyes sight strong enough with the sunlight to see the bottom. It tilted away from where Cai Xuefang had supposedly stood to block it, forcing it under and away slightly.

Cai Xuefang had blocked this…

There was glass. Fucking glass. Like trinitite glass. As in a massive city clearing bomb level heat and pressure. Or at least that much concentrated to a single slash.

He needed to get stronger fast. As in yesterday, but somehow do it without fighting people with the strength of nukes.

There was no way he would fight a warhead in the shape of a fucking human. Not until he knew that warhead was not going to blow him to heaven come.

He had no clue how he was going to do that.